


Life With Henry

by WayWardWonderer



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Aging, Baby, Birthday, Bonding, Chicken Pox, Christmas, Cold, College, Development, Family, Father and Son, Fever, First time Parent, Future, Gen, Graduation, Growing Up, Halloween, Healing, Holidays, Hurt, Love, Milestones, Past, Preschool, Raising a Child, Time - Freeform, Trust, Wounded, grandfather and grandson - Freeform, how to, ill, injured, learning, present, proud, sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 13:31:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 54,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18195230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WayWardWonderer/pseuds/WayWardWonderer
Summary: After fathering a child via a surrogate Connor raises his son, Henry, with Hank as his own father and the baby's grandfather.  As the child grows up Connor's understanding of humanity and of the concept of time begins to settle in giving the deviant a new appreciation for life and everything it has to offer.(*Originally featured in the 'Accident Prone: Becoming Human' series.)





	Life With Henry

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter was so long that I felt it deserved to be its own separate story.
> 
> Link to illustration: https://www.deviantart.com/kt-jadeblaze/art/Life-With-Henry-792487106

_**Henry's First Week:** _

"You're certain about this?" Connor asked from the front passenger seat of the Oldsmobile as he looked into the backseat where Henry was safely secured to his baby-seat. "I'd rather remain at home with the items and the gifts that had already been provided for Henry."

"Trust me, son." Hank gently pulled the car into park and turned off the engine. "Henry is going to outgrow those clothes a lot quicker than you think. Grab a few extras and some more boxes of diapers, and you'll be able to stay holed up at the house until your paternity leave is up."

"Alright." Opening up his door Connor closed it without slamming it before opening the rear passenger door. "Hi, Henry."

The small baby was completely indifferent to the world around him as Connor slipped on the baby sling over his chest before unclipping Henry from his seat. As he gently secured Henry to the sling, his little legs sticking out either side of the supportive sling, Connor grabbed the green blanket and wrapped it around the baby to protect him from the cold, before wrapping the lapels of his jacket over top the baby as well.

"Come on, kid." The detective encouraged as he neared the entrance of the massive store. "The sooner you go inside, the sooner you can leave."

Taking a deep breath Connor looked down at his son and relented. "I'm right behind you."

As the duo stepped inside the store designed specifically to cater to the needs of infants and toddlers, Connor found himself being the target of numerous stares and smiles from the people already inside.

"...Why is everyone looking at me?" The deviant whispered in a shy voice as he put his hand behind Henry's head and held him close. "I don't like it."

"They're staring because you're an attractive guy with a newborn baby strapped to your chest. Right now you're irresistible to single people wanting to settle down with their own family."

"...They want to date me?"

"Something like that."

"I can't do that, I'm still bonded with Skye."

"That's okay, son. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Just grab a few things for Henry and we'll get out of here and back home."

"Okay."

Hank stayed by Connor as the new father set about locating several larger sized 'onesies', as well as larger shirts and shorts to purchase for Henry. As the deviant focused on grabbing what he needed Hank made an effort to keep himself between Connor and prying eyes from people who were 'interested' in Connor for the sake of the shy deviant's sanity.

"There's always extra diapers at the front of the store." Taking notice of all the people watching Connor, particularly a woman that gave Hank a red flag, he decided to take some initiative. "We can grab those after you get a few more clothes."

"Of course."

Clearing his throat Hank grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and reached into the worn out, leather object to retrieve a small golden ring. "Hey, kid. Put this on your left ring finger."

"What?"

"Just do it." Hank placed the ring down in Connor's left hand and patted his shoulder. "It's my wedding band. Keep that on your finger and just tell people you're married, and show them the ring. It'll help keep them away."

Connor looked down at the ring in his hand and gave Hank an odd look. "This is really your wedding ring?"

"Yeah, it took me about two years before I could finally take it off. But I kept it close to me ever since."

"...Thank you." Discreetly Connor slipped the ring on his finger as requested, granted it was a little too big but he kept in place, and resumed his shopping. "I appreciate this."

"Sure." Moving Connor's left hand so it was supporting Henry's back, the ring now visible to everyone who looked over at him, Hank gave him a subtle nod. "And remember, the ones who don't have any respect for your marriage are the type you NEVER want a relationship with under any circumstances."

"...I'll remember that."

"Good. I'm going to go see if I can find a few extra blankets for Henry. This winter is going to be brutal and I don't want him to get a cold."

"I'll meet you up front."

Keeping one hand on Henry's back Connor made his way through the store and grabbed what he needed. Carrying the items under his right arm and right hand Connor felt more confident and could see several people taking notice of the wedding ring and look away from the deviant disappointingly. However, one woman didn't seem deterred. As she made her way toward Connor in a less than subtle manner Hank took notice and wanted to intervene.

"Alright, son." Hank stepped between the woman and Connor, not discreetly, and took some of the items under the deviant's arm. "I found a couple extra blankets. Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I think I have enough clothes for Henry."

"How many of these things did you grab?"

"Fifty-two articles of clothing varying in size ranging from newborn to eighteen months."

"Yeah, that'll cover it. For a while, anyway."

From behind Hank the woman, who Hank had been wary of, spoke up and approached Connor very assertively. "Is this your son?"

Connor looked uncomfortable, but he was polite to the woman all the same. "...Yes."

"He's so cute!" She gave Connor the fakest smile that Hank recognized as that of a pathological liar and manipulator. "I bet you're so proud!"

"...I am."

"Shopping without your wife?"

Connor shifted on his feet awkwardly but answered all the same as he rubbed Henry's back with his left hand to ensure she saw the ring. "No. ...She couldn't make it."

"Too bad." Her fake smile broadened and she took a step toward Connor as the deviant took a step back. "I'd never let my own child out of my sight if I could help it. Some people can't appreciate the children in their lives."

Hank was getting mad on Connor's behalf and spoke up. "Where is your kid anyway?"

"Oh, he's at school." She never looked at Hank but kept eyeing Connor curiously, and seemed to be convinced that the deviant was rich since he was buying a large number of new clothes for Henry. "My own son's daddy walked out on us, and we-"

"Sweetheart," Hank rudely interupted and gave the woman an annoyed stare. "don't even try it. You already know he's married, so back off."

She stared at Hank as if he had just given her a righteous dose of reality and didn't like it.

"Ready, kid?" Hank turned back to the deviant and lightly rubbed his hand along Henry's back. "I bet he's ready to go home."

"Yeah. I'm ready to leave, dad."

The woman crossed her arms and gave Hank a dirty look as Connor made his way to the front registers with the clothing he had selected, as well as the blankets. Meanwhile Hank went to grab a box of diapers before leaving, and put them up on the register.

Henry was beginning to get fussy and Connor gently soothed him as he rubbed Henry's back again. "We'll be home soon."

As the items were being paid for the cashier complimented Henry and congratulated Connor on the birth of his child politely, all the while Hank watched as the woman kept staring at Connor. When she made a move for her phone Hank stood in front of her again and showed her his badge as his every instinct as a cop, father and now grandfather put him on edge.

"Put the phone away, before I have you arrested for stalking and harassment."

The woman's face suddenly paled. "You're a cop?"

"So is he." Hank confirmed as he gestured to Connor with a thumb over the shoulder. "And even if he weren't he's still too damn smart to fall for your little scheme. Not mention the fact that if he weren't married he could do FAR better than a lazy gold-digger like you."

"You don't know me!"

"Honey, I've been a cop for almost twenty years. I know everything about you, and I feel like I should let you know one very important thing." He leaned in close to her as he pocketed his badge. "You're _not_ special."

Defeated at last the woman finally backed away and didn't bother with trying to seduce Connor anymore.

Hank met Connor at the exit and grabbed a few of the bags to help carry the new purchases as the two returned to the car to set off for home. Moving quickly to keep Henry out of the cold Connor secured Henry to his baby-seat and clipped the supports into place while Hank put the bags in the trunk. Once the two detectives were back in the front seats of the car Connor breathed a sigh of relief, and Hank turned over the engine.

"Here." Connor slipped off the ring and handed it back to Hank. "Thanks for the help. And for keeping the woman away from me."

"Sure, kid." Taking back his ring Hank slipped back over his own finger for the time being.

"I'd never let anyone like her around Henry. I've also alerted her current location to the precinct."

"What? Why?"

"She is a known criminal with a history of prostitution, drug possession, child neglect, child endangerment, shoplifting and has a warrant for her arrest for numerous unpaid parking tickets."

"...You ran a scan over her?" Hank laughed as he pulled the car out of the parking lot to head for home.

"Of course." Removing the sling from his chest Connor felt an odd sense of satisfaction for identifying the elusive criminal. "She gave me a bad feeling and I decided to perform a background check as a precaution."

"Good work, kid."

"As for her child, he is in the sole custody of his father who moved out of state because she threatened to kill him with a knife, but settled for fifty dollars to leave the premises. She now owes six-thousand dollars in unpaid child support."

"And she had the nerve to..." Trailing off a little Hank decided to let the matter drop.

"I know what you were going to say," Connor replied softly as he turned around to look in the backseat and saw that Henry had drifted off to sleep. "I too was offended that she assumed that Skye was an inattentive mother, or wife."

"Hard to believe we still live in an era where a father spending time with his child automatically means there's something wrong with the mother. It takes two people to make a child, which means both people involved should take care of the child equally. It's NOT weird."

"Did you receive the same treatment when you were out with Cole?"

"Yup. It never stopped pissing me off, and it felt good to tell off one of those judgmental bit-" Hank was making a conscious effort to swear less now that Henry was around. "one of those judgmental _idiots_."

"Fortunately, I won't have to deal with that again for some time. I'd rather remain at home with Henry until he's a little bigger and stronger."

"I don't blame ya', kid. But I'm going to warn you right here, right now; he's going to grow up before you know it." Glancing at Henry's reflection in the rearview mirror Hank smiled again and turned the next block to head home. "But you'll always see him as your little boy."

"I'm looking forward to watching him grow, dad. I want to see what kind of person Henry will become."

"As long as he has you to look out for him he'll be great, son."

* * *

_**Henry: 0-3 Months.** _

Connor took to fatherhood naturally and easily. He spent the first six weeks tending to Henry on his paternity leave with only a few bouts of colic to disturb their usual routines at night. Hank stopped by the store after almost every shift and made it easy for the deviant to keep up on baby supplies without having to leave the house. After changing Henry's diaper and giving him a bath Connor carried the infant back into the livingroom just as Hank returned to the house with a big box of diapers under his arm.

"Hey. How'd Henry do today?" Dropping the box down on the kitchen table Hank made his way to the livingroom ready to take the infant from Connor's arms to hold for himself.

"Well, he's begun consuming more formula than usual which is indicative of healthy growth," he placed a dark blue pacifier in the baby's mouth as he watched Hank walk into the livingroom. Passing Henry over to Hank's hands Connor continued to talk about their day. "he spit up once on my shirt after his first bottle, and then spit up a little more on Sumo after the third."

Hank laughed a little as he looked at the massive bundle of fluff on the floor and saw the still damp patch of fur on Sumo's back where Connor had cleaned him up. "Getting spit up on is much better than 'accidents' during diaper changes. Trust me on that."

"Henry's also begun to show more strength in his limbs whenever I place him on his blanket on the floor, or place him in the crib for a nap. He really seems to enjoy the stuffed dog you bought for him as well."

"Yeah, stuffed animals are almost always a win with babies. They're soft, lightweight and don't break when thrown across the room."

"I'm not looking forward to leaving Henry at the daycare tomorrow." Connor admitted as he watched Henry being protectively cradled in Hank's arms. "But I know I must go back to work."

"He'll be fine, son. Besides, Abby will be stopping by the tower from time to time so I know she'll be watching over him along with the other volunteers. And he'll have a little playmate with Aria. They don't have a biological connection, but they might as well be half-siblings."

"Yeah, the daycare is the perfect place for him to begin developing his social skills. How could you stand going back to work after Cole was born?"

"Not gonna' lie, son," Hank smirked as Henry grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and began pulling a little at the fabric. "it wasn't easy. I'd call Barb on my breaks, or use my phone to 'facetime' with them both whenever I could get away with it. It helped a lot."

"That's a good idea. I'll be able to watch Henry without accidentally smothering him in the process."

"Once you start to blend your work routine with parenting you'll feel a lot more confident about everything, and the worries will begin to ease."

"But never fully go away?"

"Nope. They never will." Henry yawned and the pacifier fell from his mouth as he snuggled in against Hank's shoulder. "So get used to it."

* * *

As much as it pained Connor to do so he took Henry to Skye Tower. He was happy to introduce him to the volunteering staff and very proud to let Abby see him for the first time since he was born and since she recovered enough from the delivery to return to work. Dr. Wilson was also excited to meet Henry and happily gave the small infant a complimentary wellness check; although it was more or less just an excuse to play with the baby, and congratulated Connor with a firm handshake.

"He's doing great, Connor." Abby complimented the deviant as she held Henry in her arms for the first time since he was born. "I'm so proud of you."

"Again Abby, I cannot possibly thank you enough for doing this."

"I was happy to do it, Connor. And I'd do it again. You know, as long as the hospital can give me better pain medication."

"Abby, I was wondering if..." The deviant knew he needed to ask, but it still somehow felt a little rushed. "If you and Gavin would consider being Henry's godparents."

"Wha- Connor, of course I would! I'm sure Gavin feels the same!" Smiling at Henry again Abby stood up on her tiptoes to give Connor a kiss on the cheek. "It'd be an honor."

"...Thank you. I'd ask Luke, but he's so far away and Hank is..."

"I know, Connor. I get it. Remember, it doesn't mean you don't trust them to look after Henry, you're just making sure if the absolute worse case scenario were to happen that your son will be safe."

"...Yeah."

"Connor, it's okay. I'll talk with Gavin tonight after we both get off work. Until then," she briefly passed Henry back to Connor so he could say goodbye to his son before heading on his way to the precinct. "go do your thing. Keep the city safe."

Smiling with a subtle nod Connor gave Henry a kiss on the head and handed him back to Abby. "I'll be back tonight at six fourteen, Henry. I love you."

* * *

Once at the precinct Connor was greeted with a bunch of 'Welcome back!' and 'Congratulations' and dozens of requests to see a picture of Henry. Holding up his right hand Connor showed a display of Henry at the daycare center laying on a soft play mate with a plastic mobile above him. The response was always a collective 'awe' or 'he's so cute', but for Connor it never got old as he was still a proud new father.

As Connor walked by Gavin's desk he gave the Sergeant a nod of respect and the gesture was sincerely returned.

There was an impressive stack of case files waiting for Connor at his terminal, not that he minded. The less time he had to spend in the field the more opportunities he'd have to check in on Henry without it interfering with his investigations.

"Hey, Connor." Chris walked over to the deviant's desk and placed a dark blue stuffed teddy bear on the desk, as well as yet another box of diapers with a red bow on the side. "Congratulations, man. How's fatherhood treating you?"

"I enjoy it. I really do."

Jack, despite being deviant for almost two years, was still unused to human customs and didn't fully comprehend emotions. But as a sign of good will he also congratulated Connor and asked to see a picture of Henry. Seeing the small infant made Jack's head tilt, but upon seeing the happy looks on both Connor and Chris's faces told him all he needed to know to confirm that a new baby was indeed worth celebrating.

Hank noticed that Connor had arrived some time ago, but waited for him to get back into his routine before speaking with him. Exiting the office he approached the desk and handed Connor a tablet to view.

"What's this?"

"Joel wants to see you for a check-up. It's been six weeks since you reinstalled that update without checking in with a technician. It's just a precaution."

"Very well. I'll go see Joel."

"I take it everyone's already seen a photo of Henry by now?"

"Everyone who's asked anyway."

"What about at the tower?"

"He made a good first impression to the volunteers, especially with Abby and Dr. Wilson."

"Not surprised."

* * *

Just as he done before in the bullpen Connor happily showed Joel on his hand a live feed of Henry at the daycare playing as best as he could with his still developing motor skills with the plastic mobile over him. The technician was just as awe struck as everyone else and spoke about how when he first met his girlfriend, now fiance; as she had been divorced and was struggling to raise her two kids alone. He had his own experience with raising kids and had become really attached to them, even considering them as his own.

"Looks like you're still completely healthy, Connor." Joel announced after he finished listening to his chest with the audioscope. "I'm glad all the glitches in that update have been sorted out."

"I am, too."

"And Lily, my intern you met under unusual circumstances some time ago, returned to Digital Sentience and is using the knowledge she gained from her experiences here to keep bugs and glitches under control. It seems like androids won't have to worry about any more shady tactics from groups like CyberLife anymore."

"That'd be nice. I don't think I could handle anymore setbacks or faulty software."

"You should bring Henry by the precinct some time. I know I'd like to meet him in person."

"I'll consider it." Connor replied honestly as he finished adjusting his tie and cybernetically filed his approval for active duty. "Thank you for your help, Joel. Hank told me you assisted him in furnishing the house while I was at the hospital. I appreciate it."

"No problem, Connor. You're my friend, and you help keep my job interesting."

* * *

After his shift ended at six in the evening Connor promptly returned to the tower to pick up Henry and speak with Abby. She told him that she'd discuss things with Gavin and get back to him as soon as she had a firm answer. As the deviant gently picked up Henry he gave Aria some attention as well, and was pleased to see that the two small children were interacting very well together.

"I'm glad Henry isn't shy. I have difficulty with my own shyness at times, I don't think I'd be able to help him very much if we both shared the same trait."

"He'll be just fine." Abby reassured Connor as she took Aria from his arms. "He's tough. Just like his father."

"...And his mother." The thought of Skye made his faint grin disappear for a moment. "Thank you, Abby."

Quietly Connor left the tower with Henry, placed him in the baby-seat in the back of the car, and drove out to a local flower shop. The final step after his purchase was to the church that held the android cemetery in the back of the property. It was a bleak sight to behold, but Connor knew he owed it to both his late wife and his son that they should have the chance to meet in some way.

Carrying Henry in his arms Connor approached Skye's headstone and knelt down slowly. Placing the newly purchased lily down on her grave, and a second one on Lucas's grave next to her the deviant took in a deep breath. Holding Henry in his arms against his chest Connor held back the tears in his eyes as he spoke to Skye in a low voice.

"Hi, Skye. There's someone very important here that you need to know about. And he's beautiful, just like you..."

* * *

_**Henry: 4-6 months** _

In a matter of a few months Henry was beginning to look more like Connor and was undeniably his son. He was sporting thick, dark brown hair and had Connor's fair skin complexion. While his eyes remained blue they weren't as dark as they had been previously and were now the exact same shade of blue as Hank's eyes. No doubt that was a little detail that was intentional for the sake of a deep familial resemblance.

Connor was laying on the floor next to Henry and helping the baby to stand up on his own two little feet. As Henry balanced against Connor's arm he randomly babbled and proceeded to grab for small, brightly colored toys and cram them in his mouth to taste them. As much as Connor hated seeing Henry stick toys in his mouth he knew it was normal behavior and understood that for infants their sense of taste is the most sensitive, and a great way for him to explore the world around him.

Tugging lightly on the oversized squishy green foam block in Henry's mouth Connor replaced it with the pacifier as he watched his son practicing how to balance and making silly sounds around the pacifier in his mouth. All the while Sumo laid on the floor near Connor with his chin down atop his paws watching Henry curiously.

"Hey, Connor." Hank walked into the livingroom with a couple small plastic cups filled with various fruit blends in his hands. One cup was a dark blue shade and the other was reddish-pink hue. "There's six of these in the fridge. Where'd you get these things?"

"I made those. They are pureed fruit blends." The deviant replied as Henry sat down on the floor, then laid on his tummy as he made a grab for Sumo's tail. The massive dog didn't mind and patiently put up with Henry's hands pulling on his fur; Connor making sure he never pulled too hard. "I decided to make Henry's baby food myself to ensure I fully understand exactly what he likes and what he dislikes."

"What is it?"

"The blue container holds blueberries, and the red container holds strawberries."

"Oh. When'd you do this?"

"This afternoon while you were at the precinct."

Henry dropped the pacifier from his mouth and grabbed onto the green block again. As he put the toy back in his mouth Connor just shook his head and picked the baby up from the floor with both hands. Positioning Henry on his hip Connor took the toy from his mouth once more and carried him into the kitchen.

"Henry, you shouldn't put items that aren't edible in your mouth."

Hank just laughed and gave Connor a sheepish glance. "Like father, like son."

Connor flashed an amused grin as he placed Henry in his highchair and tucked a bib around his neck. "I suspect now might be the best time to try new foods."

"Good luck."

"What do you mean?"

"Just wait and see how he reacts if he doesn't like what you offer him."

"I doubt he'll do anything that I can't handle."

Taking the two cups of fruit purees from Hank's hands Connor selected the strawberry and placed the blueberry back into the fridge. As he took a seat next to the highchair Connor dipped a small, clean spoon into the fruit and offered Henry a small portion to taste. The baby turned his head away from the offered food and Connor tried again.

Hank just stood back against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. It was thoroughly amusing to watch Connor trying to feed the little baby while Henry himself wasn't exactly feeling cooperative that day.

"Please, Henry." After a little coaxing Connor was able to get a small amount of the fruit on Henry's lips and the baby responded with a strange curiosity. It seemed the new flavor was appealing. "Do you like it?"

Intrigued by the flavor Henry was suddenly more receptive and made a grab for the spoon in Connor's hand.

Hank saw what was about to happen from a mile away. "Uh, Connor..."

Henry proceeded to pull the spoon in the deviant's hand and shake it enough to send a splattering of red-pink fruit over himself, the highchair, the floor and of course Connor's face. Without flinching Connor just patiently took the spoon back from Henry's grip and used the bib to clear off the baby's face.

"I can't tell if that was a positive taste test, or negative."

Hank just smirked as he walked over to the table and looked at the mess Henry had created. Lightly he pressed his finger to the side of Connor's cheek and wiped away a smudge of the strawberries and laughed. "I think he liked it, but I can't guarantee he liked the way it tasted."

"...I might need some wipes before this is over."

Still laughing Hank patted Connor's shoulder as he walked down the hallway to retrieve the necessary wipes as the deviant wisely suggested.

Trying again Connor put a small portion of the fruit on the spoon and offered it to Henry. This time Henry was willing to actually taste the fruit, but as it turned out he disliked it. Letting out a small grunt of discontent as he made a face Henry again shook the spoon in Connor's hand creating an even bigger mess.

Hank returned to the kitchen to see more of the strawberry puree all over the baby, the highchair, floor, parts of the walls and Connor. "I take it he's not a fan of strawberries."

"Apparently not."

"Don't worry about it. Why don't you try the blueberries instead?"

"What makes you certain that the blueberries will be received more positively?"

"Because _you_ like the taste of blueberries."

"Ah, I see." Wiping more of the strawberries from Henry's face with the bib Connor replaced the lid on the container and swapped the disliked fruit out for the blueberries. Using a clean towel Connor wiped off the residual strawberries from the spoon and opened up the second container and proceeded to offer up the new fruit to the amused infant. "Alright, let's try this."

Henry was still being cooperative and let Connor feed him the blueberries. After the taste had a few seconds to set in Henry let out a happy noise and made another grab for the spoon. This time Connor held a tighter grip to keep a third mess from being made and proceeded to dip the spoon back into the fruit blend.

"You were right. Henry does like blueberries."

"What other fruit did you buy for him?" Hank asked as he took one of the wipes from the container and proceeded to remove the strawberries from the kitchen walls. "Nothing exotic I hope."

"No. I went with more simple fruits for the time being." Happy that Henry was eating well Connor continued to dip the spoon into the blueberries and let the infant guide the spoon to his own mouth in the process. "Strawberries, blueberries, apples, bananas, red grapes and peaches. I had considered watermelon as well, but that would've been a very large amount of fruit. I may pick up some cherries next time, as well as mangoes, kiwis and perhaps pineapples and oranges."

"Are you seriously going to let him taste every single fruit in the world one at a time?"

"Yes." Waiting to see if Henry was still interested in the blueberries Connor turned to look at Hank as the detective moved away from the wall and slowly knelt on the floor to clean up the rest of the mess. "I will move onto vegetables next."

"One at a time, right?"

"Correct."

"Man, when I said you needed to become more patient I didn't expect you to get THIS patient."

"Does this seem excessive?"

"Nah, it just seems like a big project. But if anyone will see it through, it's you."

Henry had enough of the blueberries and shook the spoon again. This time Connor was ready and used his hands to keep the mess from splattering against the walls again, but in turn he became coated under another layer of sticky fruit. Connor looked at Henry's messy face, his own face not faring much better, and got a big smile and a little laugh from the baby as a result.

"Perhaps I'll skip the wipes and go straight for a bath." Removing the bib from around Henry's neck Connor picked up the baby from the high chair and held him in his arms. "Let's go."

"Hey, Connor."

"Yeah?" Turning to face Hank he saw that the detective had his phone up and pointed straight at him and Henry's messy faces.

"Smile!"

* * *

_**Henry: 7-9 Months.** _

Carrying Henry in his arms, the supportive medical sling around his left shoulder making it a tad uncomfortable, Connor prepared to circle the block as Hank instructed, although he still didn't understand why. It was Halloween night and the neighborhood was alive with laughing, screaming children running around and ringing doorbells to go trick-or-treating. Connor had witnessed Halloween a few times before while on patrol, but never once participated in the festivities until that night.

"Why are we doing this?" Connor asked as he walked with Hank at his side. The two detectives were dressed in crude 'Blues Brothers' costumes thanks to their abundance of dark suits, and finding some hats and dark sunglasses while they were out looking for Henry's costume. "We've never participated in Halloween before."

"That's because I'm too old, you're too unfamiliar with the entire concept, and there's too much for me to try to explain in one night."

"What about Henry?" The little baby was dressed in a similar manner, a dark suit, hat and sunglasses for 'the sake of humor', as Hank put it. "He won't remember this night."

"No, but you will. And this is still his first big holiday. He needs the chance to be apart of it."

"I see. But I don't like the idea of walking up to strange houses and requesting candy."

"It's not about the candy, kid. It's about kids having fun and getting to be whoever, or whatever, they want for one night of the year."

"You used to do this as a child as well?"

"Yeah, me and my buddies would stay out as long as we could until one of our parents wrangled us up and took us home."

"And you wore a costume?"

"That was kind of the point." Hank reminded Connor of what he just said about kids dressing up. "Come on. Let's head out to the park, it always looks great during fall."

Connor was still trying to understand the unusual human holiday. It didn't help that when the deviant did cybernetic research on the topic the origins of the holiday and what he was currently witnessing wasn't adding up entirely. Adjusting Henry in his arms so he was a little more comfortable and resting against Connor's warm chest, the deviant accompanied Hank to the park as requested.

"According to my data Halloween is a Pagan holiday designed to honor the memory of the deceased, ward off evil spirits and to encourage charitable donations from the neighborhood. Those who were not generous or refused to donate at all were subjected to cruel pranks or public humiliation."

"Yup."

"But now no one is expected to participate if they don't want to do so?"

"Yup."

"Interesting."

"Traditions change or plain get forgotten over time, kid." Hank smirked as Henry made a few babbling noises and kicked out his legs in Connor's arms. The little baby was staring at the glowing Jack-O-Lanterns along the street with wide-eyed wonder. "Now Halloween is about children having fun with 'make-believe', hanging out with their friends, getting hyper on candy and gaining a sense of independence when they go out with their friends instead of their parents. And adults use these evenings with their kids hanging out with friends, to hang out with their own adult friends. Some will dress up, too."

"I'll remember that as Henry grows up."

Once they reached the park the duo sat down on the bench and looked out at the water as the autumn sunset glowed over the surface, and colorful leaves swirled about them on the sidewalk. There were other kids in the park, too. They were dressed up and playing while their parents were sitting down on another bench to check through their collected candy for any sign of tampering.

"I imagine once Henry is older he'll enjoy this holiday more."

"Yeah. Cole didn't really get into Halloween until he was four. It think that's a pretty average age with kids."

Connor noted the mounting chill in the air and wrapped his suit jacket around Henry protectively.

"How's your arm?"

"The repairs should be completed in the next seven hours. The bullet tore through the main connecting joint between my arm and my shoulder, while also damaging the main Thirium line running down the limb." Tilting his head toward his bad arm Connor offered up an intriguing suggestion. "Perhaps the Kevlar vests should be converted to Kevlar shirts and be given sleeves."

"I'll bring that up at the next H.R. meeting, kid."

As the family admired the beautiful natural scenery around them and listening the kids laughing in the park Connor now understood why Hank loved to bring Cole to the park so often. It was as peaceful as it was gorgeous.

Hank reached his hand out and grabbed onto Henry's little hand where he sat. "I bet he'll love all the glowing pumpkins when we walk back home."

"He does seem to enjoy lights and bright colors."

"Maybe you can sort through some of his toys and see if he has a color preference yet."

"Henry does seem to favor the blue blanket and the blue blocks he plays with." Giving Hank an uncertain glance. "In time I'll make sure his bedroom walls are painted blue."

"Good idea. Come on," patted Connor's shoulder he motioned back to the sidewalk. "it's getting pretty cold already. It's not a good idea to keep him out here."

"I agree. Perhaps next Halloween we can do something more exciting for Henry."

"Absolutely. Kids need to have fun."

* * *

Connor was exhausted as he held Henry against his chest as he sat on the couch in the livingroom. Henry had caught a little cold and Connor felt absolutely miserable on his son's behalf. Rubbing Henry's back gently Connor tried to soothe his sick son and help him fall asleep to rest, but the baby was just as stubborn as Connor and didn't want to rest for longer than a few minutes at a time.

Opening up another book Connor tried to keep reading to Henry, but the little baby wasn't interested in any bedtime stories.

Hank returned home from the store with a grocery bag with some children's medicine inside, and immediately asked about Henry's condition. "How's he doing?"

"His fever is holding at one-hundred degrees even. It's not too high but he is exhausted."

"Is his nose running?"

"No, he's alright at the moment."

"No vomiting or diarrhea?"

"No, thankfully. Just a mild fever and he's tired."

"I bought some children's ibuprofen. It's safe for him now that he's older than six months, but I used to use relatively cool sponge baths to help Cole whenever he got sick to bring down his fever."

"That's a good idea. I'll also offer him some formula that I put in the refrigerator. Hopefully that'll be soothing and help him to feel better."

Hank gently took Henry from Connor and sat down on the couch while the deviant went into the kitchen to get the mentioned bottle from the fridge. Returning to the livingroom he let Hank take over while he sorted through the items in the grocery bag and put them away accordingly.

"I appreciate you postponing your shift to help us."

"It's not a problem, son." Henry slowly took to the bottle and leaned heavily against Hank's shoulder. His hand was wrapped around the bottle and he was looking around the room curiously as he became more alert after his brief nap. "Since he's getting his shots tomorrow you can ask the pediatrician to make sure he didn't catch something a little nastier than a cold."

"I will inquire accordingly."

"Well, Henry seems alert as usual and wanting to play on the floor. Maybe this isn't a cold after all." Hank watched as Henry pushed the bottle away and let out a pained grunt. "Hold on, I think I know what's going on." With a gentle pressure Hank put his finger in Henry's mouth and lowered his tiny jaw. "Yup. He's teething."

"Teething?"

"It hurts and it can cause mild fevers when the baby gets stressed out enough." Hank let Henry chew on his finger a little bit. "It happens to all babies."

"At least it's not an infection."

Henry let out more babbling sounds as he waved his fist around as if annoyed. Placing Henry down on the thick blanket on the floor where the coffee table had once been, Hank watched as the baby resumed crawling about, free at last. He proceeded to make more sounds that were gradually becoming closer to actual words as he honed in on the colorful foam blocks on the floor and began babbling to himself.

"I'll bring back some teething rings after I clock out this evening." Hank volunteered as he knelt on the floor to give Henry a little goodbye kiss before he stood up again to head for the door. "He'll be fine, son."

"What do I do if he becomes too uncomfortable?"

"Give him a cold, wet washcloth to chew on." The detective suggested casually as Hank took his leave of the house. "Works every time and it'll help him cool off while numbing his mouth."

Joining Henry on the floor Connor watched as the baby played with his blocks and let out an occasional pained grunt. "Well, Henry. Looks like I'm going to have to introduce you to brushing your teeth pretty soon. What do you think of that?"

The baby turned to look at Connor, his blue eyes focused right on his dad's face, and babbled again.

"Yeah, I had a feeling you'd say that."

While at the precinct, bored because he and Connor had taken up more rotating shifts so one of them could be with Henry at the house more often, Hank waited for the clock to countdown as he finished dealing with the tedious piles of reports and arbitrary updates from city hall. It didn't help that he knew his grandson wasn't feeling well and would need some additional T.L.C. once 'Papa' got home.

The photograph of Connor and Henry covered in the strawberry and blueberry mess sat on the corner of his desk and always made him smile when he looked at it. It was sitting next to the photograph of Barbara holding Cole, and the sight of his family as made Hank's heart swell.

While overlooking a truly bizarre case of a drunk guy breaking into a repair shop and trying to ride a vacuum cleaner around the store, he got a alert on his phone from Connor. It was a request to 'facetime' and that was something that Connor never did. Accepting the request Hank stared at the screen and caught sight of Henry standing in the middle of the floor with a big red foam block in his hands. His back was to the to the camera in Connor's phone as the deviant filmed his son from where he sat.

"Connor, what's going on?"

' _I thought you'd like to see this_.' The deviant replied casually before calling out to Henry. ' _Henry, can you do that again_? _Walk to daddy_.'

The baby turned around to face Connor and proceeded to awkwardly, but surely toddle his way over to Connor's outstretched hands. His steps were slow and seemed uncertain, but Henry made the journey and collapsed against Connor's chest with a small laugh.

"Ah man... He's walking." The sight made Hank's heart swell even more and suddenly that day didn't feel so boring or glum. "I'm so proud of him."

' _His fever has disappeared as well_. _I think it's safe to say he's going to be just fine as you stated earlier_.'

"That's great news, son. Thanks for showing me his first steps."

' _I'll see you tonight_. _I plan on trying new foods with Henry for dinner. I suspect you might want to take more photos in the event he tries to feed himself again_.'

Hank laughed as he glanced on the photo on his desk and replied with good humor. "Yeah, you suspect right, son."

As the call ended Hank continued to chuckle to himself as he felt better than he had in years.

* * *

After a few weeks of teething and mild fevers Connor had figured out an effective routine and kept Henry quite content.

Connor was stretched over his bed with Henry on his lap and Sumo resting his chin over the deviant's ankles. The deviant was strumming a tune on his guitar much to Henry's delight and the curious baby smacked his hands over Connor's hands as he played. Undeterred by the sound and very interested in new forms of music meant Henry was the perfect audience for Connor's playing.

Hank returned home from the precinct a little earlier than normal and proceeded to make his way into the bathroom without speaking to Connor.

Despite the relatively loud sound of the guitar Connor had heard Hank come home and walk into the bathroom. Sensing something was wrong Connor put aside his guitar much to Henry's dismay and placed the baby down in the crib for a moment.

"I'll be right back, Henry. I need to go check on your Papa."

While Henry babbled loudly and made almost-words after Connor the deviant knocked on the bathroom door and saw Hank sitting on the edge of the bathtub with his hand pressed against his lower back.

"Are you sick?" Connor asked quickly as he pressed his hand to Hank's forehead and ran a scan to check his vitals.

"No, kid. My back's killing me. I almost threw it out today when I helped restrain a suspect."

"How bad's the pain?" Moving his hand from Hank's forehead to his back Connor could feel the muscles tensing up under his palm.

"Pretty bad. I couldn't take sitting at my desk anymore."

"Is your range of mobility limited?"

"No, it just hurts."

"Use a hot bath to ease the tension in your muscles. I'll bring you something for the pain."

"Don't worry about me, kid. I can-"

"I know you can take care of yourself." Connor interrupted now using the same 'dad voice' that Hank had always used on him. "But I want to help you. Please?"

Sighing with amused defeat Hank relented and agreed to the offered help. "Alright, son. You win."

"Well, I was bound to win at some point." The deviant smirked as he reached into the bathtub and turned on the faucet. As the tub began to fill with warm water Connor gave the detective a relieved grin. "Try to soak in the water for at least an hour before getting out. I'll bring you a muscle relaxer and some clean clothes."

"Thanks, kid. I appreciate it."

The hot bath did seem to help, but it still wasn't enough to combat the negative effects of time against Hank's body.

Hank was laying on his bed on his stomach with a heating pad on his back as he tried to ease the tension in his lower back. Laying with his head on the pillow and his eyes on an old book, Hank felt old again and hated that it felt like his body was betraying him. Annoyed and unable to focus on the story despite it being one of his favorites he sighed and put the book aside.

There was a knock on the door as Connor opened it up and let Henry toddle over to the bed. Henry had a child's book clutched in his little hand and wanted someone to read him the story. With moderate difficulty Henry managed to partially climb up the side of the bed to climb on top, but Connor still gave him a helpful boost to make sure he made it.

"Hey, Henry." Hank was more than happy to have his grandson join him while he was down for the count. "How you doing?"

Henry responded with his usual babbling, his sounds ready to become actual words at any minute.

"I made some tomato soup in case you were hungry." Connor stated from the doorway as he watched Henry laying down next to Hank as if he was ready to put himself down for a nap. "Would you like some?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks son."

"Would you also like me to make an appointment to have your back examined?"

"No, don't worry about it. It's just old age and there's no cure for 'old'."

"You're not old." The deviant stated with a sly smirk on his face. "You're experienced."

"...Yeah, no dice. I'm old!"

Connor knew that Hank was hurting and showing his age a little more, but he didn't want to think about it too much. "Well, you _look good_ for your age at least."

Hank chuckled as he looked at Henry laying beside him and smiled. "Do you hear the way your daddy treats your Papa?"

Henry gave a happy smile to Hank as he babbled a few sounds then something coherent fell out. "Pa-pa."

Connor and Hank's eyes went wide with pride as Henry said his first word and made the old detective suddenly feel a lot better. "That's right." Rolling slightly onto his side Hank pulled Henry in for a hug. "I'm your Papa."

"That was his first word." Walking over to the bed Connor put his hand down on Henry's back and rubbed a little. "Glad I didn't have to 'facetime' it for you."

"Tell you one thing," the detective's smile was broad as he stared at his grandson who was smiling himself, even as he let out a yawn and started to drift off to sleep. Henry laid down on his tummy next to Hank and closed his eyes. "that made me feel a lot better."

Connor was smiling warmly at the sight of Hank cuddling with Henry on the bed. "Still want that soup?"

"Yeah, sure. By the way, we're supposed to be going out to Rose's place for Thanksgiving in a few weeks. I'm sure she has something planned already, but pack extra food for Henry just in case."

"Of course, I'm already prepared."

"Not surprised at all."

* * *

_**Henry: 10-12 Months.** _

A massive family gathering at Rose's house had brought together the unorthodox, but loving family, from Detroit to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Rose only had Adam, and since he spent most of his time at school she was often alone with only her dog, Titan, as company. It was nice to have a full house of friendly faces and excited conversations taking place all around the welcoming house.

Hank and Connor arrived with Henry early enough to help Rose out in the kitchen; Connor was a surprisingly good cook, and were shortly joined by Adam after he returned home from his girlfriend's house to celebrate the holiday with his mom. An hour or so later Gavin, Abby and Aria had all arrived as well since the small family, who had no extended family to speak of, didn't mind joining in on the holiday.

Aria and Henry were playing together in the livingroom while everyone chatted together in the kitchen and helped prepare the very generous meal. Connor could keep tabs on the babies from the other room very easily, and it was safe to say that the evening was going to be peaceful.

When it came time for the meal Connor had prepared a special selection for Henry since he was still wasn't quite ready for larger portions of solid foods yet, as well as something for Aria just in case. He had also stocked up on extra wipes in case Henry decided to shake around a spoon again, or feed himself in a less than ideal manner.

Fortunately everything went off without any problems, or messes, and everyone just enjoyed each other's company without having to deal with interruptions. It didn't take long for Henry and Aria to wear out from the day's events, and were left to nap on a soft blanket on the livingroom floor side by side.

The evening came to an end and everyone gathered in the livingroom together to chat a while longer.

Abby stared at Henry and shook her head with wonder. "Henry seriously looks just like you, Connor. It's incredible."

"You're the one who made it possible. But can I ask why Henry's eyes are blue, while mine are brown and Skye's were hazel?"

"Because _Hank's_ eyes are blue. I wanted to make sure that the grandfather had some resemblance his grandchild."

"I figured as much, but I wanted to be certain."

"So, his first word was 'Papa'?"

"Yeah, that's Hank's preferred nickname. What was Aria's first word?"

"She said 'dada'." Abby replied with pride as Rose joined the two in the livingroom. "I made sure to dodge that bullet."

"Dodge the bullet?"

Abby gave Connor a sly glance. "I'm going to hear 'mom' a lot when she grows up, so I wanted to make sure her first reaction was to call for 'dad', then me second. That way I won't go insane."

Rose laughed as she looked at the two sleeping babies. "That's a smart move. Wish I thought of that! Adam said 'mama' and that's all I heard for hours on end for four years. I love him, but hearing that all day can drive you crazy." She sipped at her mug of coffee and sighed. "There are times where I really miss it though."

Connor smirked as he watched Henry napping. "He's also taken his first steps, I wasn't expecting it and it took me by surprise."

"When Aria started walking the first thing she did was go after Lucky. Fortunately the cat was smart enough to jump up onto the back of the couch and get her tail out of pulling range."

"Sumo tolerates Henry grabbing his tail. But I make sure Henry doesn't accidentally hurt Sumo when he plays."

Rose smiled again as she remembered that she left Titan with a big bowl of food and water in the laundry room. "I don't think Titan would be so patient. He's never been around little kids and I didn't want to take any chances."

"Yeah, and I don't think Henry is old enough to understand that not all dogs will behave in the exact same manner as Sumo."

Hank joined the others in the livingroom along with Gavin and Adam. The three had been outside taking care of the garbage and decided to admire the cobalt blue Corvette up close and personal.

"Anything happen while we were gone?" Hank asked as he sat beside Rose and discreetly wrapped his hand around hers.

"Nothing more exciting than the babies napping."

"Sounds plenty exciting for me right now."

Connor knew that Hank's back was still hurting him, but didn't want to complain. "It might be best to return home. I don't want to risk Henry's sleep cycle becoming disturbed when I have a shift tomorrow."

"Yeah..." Hank knew what Connor was doing and appreciated it. "Nothing throws off your morning routine more than a cranky baby."

After saying their goodbyes and packing up Henry's things the two detectives set out back to the city with Henry still asleep, even after he was picked up and placed his baby-seat. With Connor driving Hank leaned back in his own seat and closed his eyes to try to ease the pain in his back.

"I still think it's more practical to use the Oldsmobile for Henry's baby-seat."

"Yeah, you're right. We'll switch them back out tomorrow morning."

"How's your back?"

"Sore, but at least I can move again."

"Perhaps a new mattress will help your back."

"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure no matter how new a mattress is, I'll stay old."

Connor shook his head a little as he glanced in the rearview mirror and looked at Henry's peaceful, napping face. The reality of Hank's dwindling mortality was making Connor wary at home, and extra careful at the precinct. Ever since Henry had been born Connor's first thought had always been to his son and how Henry still needed him, which made it easier for the deviant to put his life above entering a hostile environment or risking his own life in favor of trying to keep a dangerous suspect from hurting themself.

"What're you thinking about, son?" Hank didn't even open his eyes, he could _feel_ Connor thinking.

"I think I know what I'm getting you for Christmas." He lied quickly, but believably. "Maybe a little sooner than that."

"Don't go out of your way for me."

"I'm not. I'm merely looking out for my father."

* * *

It was Christmas Eve and the house was covered in colorful lights and other decorations that made Henry very happy to look at. Connor was holding up Henry to let him (clumsily) hang large plastic ornaments on the higher tree branches while Sumo watched from the corner. Hank had gone out for some last minute shopping, which Connor knew was a lie to cover up some other secret endeavor, and had just returned with a massive brown shopping bag under his arm.

"The tree looks great, Henry." Hank called out as he passed through the front door and made his way toward the hallway. "Keep it up, I'll be right back."

Connor knew Hank was up to something, but he also knew better than to call him out on it.

As Henry babbled random words Connor handed him another plastic ornament and watched as the baby awkwardly managed to hook it onto the branch. With the final ornaments in place Connor took a step back from the tree with Henry still in his arms and gently shook the baby's now empty hand between his finger and thumb. "Papa's right, it looks great."

Hank returned to the livingroom and put his hand on Connor's shoulder as he stood beside him and admired the tree. "Looks like everything's ready for tomorrow morning. Think Henry knows what's in store for him?"

"I don't know. I wish I knew what he was thinking, it'd make it much easier to communicate."

"He says 'Papa' all the time."

Henry looked over at Hank and repeated the word. "Pa-pa."

"See?"

"He can also say 'doggy', 'yes', 'no' and 'toy'."

"But not 'dad', huh?"

"No, not yet."

"He will. Give him time." Reaching over to take Henry for himself Hank held the baby up to his chest and let Henry rest his little head against his broad shoulder. He felt Henry yawn and his little tummy rumble and knew it was bedtime. "I'll go change him and put him down for the night. You have the presents ready to go, right?"

"Yeah. I stored them in the laundry room out of sight."

"Perfect."

While Hank took Henry down the hallway to sleep for the night Connor walked into the laundry room and picked up the various boxes wrapped in brightly colored paper to place under the tree. Carrying the boxes in neat stacks Connor put them beneath the thick green branches of the artificial tree and looked down at the tree skirt where Henry's name had been embroidered right above his own name, and below Skye's name. The name 'Lucas' stuck out to him and he smiled to himself.

"Hopefully, Luke doesn't have any trouble making it in from the airport tonight."

"I had to read him a story first, but he went down easy." Hank returned to the livingroom after ten minutes and saw the modest pile of gifts ready to go Christmas morning. "Wow, you went all out this year."

"Well, it's Henry's first Christmas and I didn't know what to get him since he can't communicate just yet. Do you think this is too much?"

"Not really. Whatever toys he doesn't respond to we can always donate to charity."

"I did purchase a few additional toys for the 'Toys For Tots' charity before I left the store. And I dropped off Aria's gift after I clocked out last night." He motioned to a bright purple box sitting atop the smaller pile. "That's the gift for Henry from Abby and Gavin."

"Sounds like you know exactly how to enjoy and appreciate the holidays, son."

"Can I ask what you were shopping for this evening?"

"You'll see tomorrow."

"More gifts for Henry?"

"Something like that." Hank flashed the deviant a coy look as he folded his arms across his chest. "Anyway, you know the drill. As soon as Henry's awake we open gifts and then we start making Christmas dinner. I know Henry still isn't ready for a lot of solid foods just yet, but that doesn't mean he still can't enjoy something special."

"Right."

"Cool. I'm going to crash. That new mattress does seem to help my back a bit, so thanks, kid."

"...And it helps with your snoring."

"What?"

"Nothing." Connor quickly denied his comment as he patted his leg to get Sumo's attention. "Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah, goodnight, son."

Loud babbling awoke Connor and he turned his head to see Henry standing up in his crib watching him as he slept. Sumo was sprawled out on the foot on Connor's bed, and as soon as Henry woke up so did he. Sitting up on the bed Connor noted the time of the morning and decided to go ahead and get Henry ready for his first Christmas.

"Good morning, Henry. Merry Christmas."

Henry held out his hands toward Connor as if saying 'pick me up' and Connor of course obliged. As he held Henry in his arms Connor decided that first thing's first, the little baby would need to be changed before Henry started opening up his gifts.

"Hopefully Papa is awake, too."

With Henry changed into a fresh diaper and a clean 'onesie' he carried the baby down the hallway into the livingroom. Sumo was right at his leg, but soon the dog trotted quickly forward and sat down at another person's feet. Connor stopped just behind the couch and was almost startled to see 'Santa Claus' himself standing in front of the tree waiting for them to arrive.

"Uh... Hello." Connor immediately recognized the face behind the fake beard as Hank, but all Henry saw was Santa. Henry of course let out excited babbles and his eyes lit up at the sight of Santa. "...Merry Christmas?"

"Merry Christmas." Holding out a small box wrapped in blue paper toward Henry, 'Santa' continued on in a slightly deeper voice. "This is Henry's first Christmas, so I wanted to give him this gift myself."

"...O-Okay." Connor took the box and opened it up on Henry's behalf, while 'Santa' took Henry from Connor's arms. Inside the box was a pocketwatch with Henry's full name engraved over the gold finish, and a long golden chair attached. "Wow." Taking the watch from the box Connor held it in his palm for Henry to see. Opening the cover of the watch Connor saw a second engraving on the inside and read the inscription out loud to his son. "There's an inscription inside for you, Henry. ' _Time is fleeting, but memories last forever. Love Papa_ '."

"Pa-pa." Henry repeated as he heard the name.

Connor closed the watch up and held it in a protective fist as Henry's little hand reached out and took hold of it around his tiny fingers. "...Thank you for this."

"It's my pleasure. Now, 'Santa' needs to go. Have a Merry Christmas."

"Y-Yeah, you too..." Connor took back Henry and watched as 'Santa' made a discreet exit through the backdoor, with Sumo following after him. "Henry, this is an amazing gift." Clutching the watch tightly in his hand Connor knew how much the gift would mean to Henry when he grew up. "As much as I want you to have it with you always, I know it'd be best to keep it somewhere safe until you're a little bit older. Okay?"

In less than a minute Hank walked through the backdoor in normal clothing as casually as possible and rejoined his family in the livingroom. Sitting down on the couch he held out his hands to take Henry away from Connor's to hold for himself. As Connor passed the baby over Hank 'noticed' the pocketwatch in Connor's grip and asked about it.

"So, where'd that come from?"

Connor gave Hank a knowing glance but played along. "From 'Santa'. It's a gift for Henry, but it looks like you did all the work and Santa just played the messenger."

"It was worth it."

Connor just smirked as a knock on the front door drew his attention and he handed the pocketwatch over to Hank to hold. Without even needing to check the deviant pulled open the door and let the guest inside. "I'm glad you made it in time."

"I may be missing Henry's first birthday, but I'm not missing his first Christmas." Luke promised as he stepped inside the house with three gifts tucked under his arms. "Merry Christmas!"

"Luke?!" Hank's eyes went wide with surprised shock. "How in the fu-" he stopped short and quickly censored himself on Henry's behalf. " _heck_ , did you get here?"

"I flew in last night and stayed at New Jericho. Connor said that having the whole family together would be the ideal Christmas present for you, and I agree."

Hank rose from the couch with Henry in his arms and promptly gave Luke a hug, while also passing Henry over to his Uncle. "Man, you both got that right."

The gathered family sat together in the livingroom exchanging gifts, chatting and watching Henry play more with the empty boxes more than he did any of his new toys. Sumo was laying atop the torn up paper chewing on his new rawhide bone watching Henry fuss with the boxes and make odd, excited noises as he played.

"Wish I knew you were coming, Luke." Hank stated as he stared at the blue-eyed deviant sitting in the recliner. "I would've got ya' something more than that Gears cap I mailed you last week."

"It's okay. Besides, I don't like the idea of trying to fly back to Boston with a lot of personal items. Being able to spend time with my family is all I wanted."

"Yeah, I don't blame you."

"Being here and getting the chance to play with Henry before I have to leave tomorrow is enough of gift in itself. You know, when Connor's done."

Connor was laying on his side on the floor watching his son toddling about with great intrigue. Everything that Henry did was always fascinating to Connor, and his paternal instinct was incredibly strong toward his only son. Henry was walking about some boxes and briefly lost his balance causing Connor to reach out his hand and catch Henry before he fell over.

"Daddy's got you."

Henry grabbed onto Connor's arm with both hands and made some babbling noises. "Dad-dy."

Both Hank and Luke had heard it and were staring at Henry with proud smiled.

Sitting upright on the floor entirely Connor smiled broadly and pulled Henry onto his lap. "That's right... I'm daddy."

Hank smirked as he used his phone to take another photo of Connor holding Henry. It was one of the rare times when Connor was smiling a full smile, not just an amused smirk. "I told you he'd get around to calling you 'daddy'."

"I guess that was Henry's Christmas gift to me." Connor was proud and smiling at the baby sitting on his lap. "And I love it."

"Merry Christmas, sons." Hank stated in an equally proud voice to Connor, Luke and Henry. "Let's hope this is the first of many family Christmases together."

* * *

Three weeks since Christmas passed the small family was ready to start a new celebration.

Proud and surprisingly full of energy Hank carried Henry into the kitchen and placed him down in the highchair. There were brightly colored balloons all over the kitchen walls and Henry babbled loudly as the bright colors amused him to no end. A massive colorful banner was stretched over the wall that spelled out 'Happy Birthday' and a small cake was sitting on the kitchen table just waiting for the baby.

"Happy birthday, Henry." Hank stated as he gave the baby a kiss on top of his head. "I can't believe it's already been a full year."

Connor agreed as he carried in a large box wrapped in blue paper into the kitchen. "It's very strange to have so many changes take place in such a limited time frame. Henry's grown and changed so much already."

"I'm glad it's all been for the better."

Henry smiled and kicked his feet at the sight of the blue paper as Connor placed the gift on the table behind the cake.

"Happy birthday." Connor parroted as he placed the cake on the highchair tray in front of him. It was a small, personal cake with 'Happy 1st Birthday Henry' written in blue icing over the white surface. "This is a special occasion where you're allowed to make as much of a mess as you want."

Sumo casually strolled into the kitchen and laid down under the table beside the chair and wagged his tail as he watched Henry happily squirming about in his highchair.

Hank held up his phone and watched as Henry made a reach for the cake. "Connor, take a step back unless you want cake all over your shirt."

Learning his lesson from the fruit puree incident Connor did take a step back and watched as Henry's little hand made a huge dent in the white frosting on the cake. Grabbing a fist full of the cake Henry brought the sugary treat to his mouth and grinned at the sweetness. Bits of cake fell all over the floor around him, and Sumo readily cleaned up the mess on Henry's behalf.

"Uh, good boy, Sumo..." Connor didn't want to yell at the dog, especially since he was just eating what fell on the floor, but he didn't want to encourage him to eat human food either. "I guess since this is a special occasion you get some cake, too."

Laughing as Henry made a bigger mess and smeared cake all over his hands, his face and the high chair, Hank seemed at peace with the world and with himself. It always did his heart good to see the same milestones he witnessed with Cole being repeated by Henry. It was like he was given the chance to watch his own firstborn son grow up all over again.

"Maybe I should've given him the gift before the cake." Connor rubbed his hand over the back of his neck anxiously as he looked at the frosting all over Henry's tiny hands.

"There was going to be a mess either way. What did you buy him, anyway?"

"You'll see." Placing the gift a little closer to Henry for him to reach Connor pulled away the ruins of the smashed cake once Henry started paying attention to the blue box. "Alright, Henry. Here's your gift."

Still lacking the coordination to tear open paper or peel up the flaps Henry grabbed all over the surface, leaving frosting hand prints in his wake, while Hank and Connor discreetly loosened the paper on the baby's behalf.

"Come on, Henry. Open it up." Connor encouraged as the baby pulled down some of the paper and worked to reveal the gift. "You can do it!"

Slowly but surely Henry managed to tear down enough of the paper to open up the gift (mostly) by himself.

"Wow," Hank was impressed by the revealed item and titled his head. "good gift, son."

The box contained a small plastic blue guitar that was designed to help infants experience and learn about music. It was a lightweight toy and made of strong plastic to ensure it wasn't broken by rough play, and it was the very color that Henry seemed to admire most.

Opening up the box Connor pulled out the guitar, removed it from its plastic packaging, and turned it on. "Fortunately it doesn't require battery replacement, only a charge time of ten minutes so he can play for six hours."

With cake still on his hands Henry smacked his palms all over the new toy excitedly.

"I think he likes it, kid."

"I'm glad." Using his thumb Connor wiped a smear of cake from Henry's cheek as he gave his son a kiss. "Happy birthday. Hopefully it's the first of a thousand."

* * *

_**Henry: 15 Months.** _

Connor watched as Henry roamed the livingroom with a plastic blue colored 'sippy-cup' in his hand while Hank laid stretched out on his back on the couch. The detective's back had been slowly getting worse and Connor knew that him helping to take care of Henry was exhausting him. Hank of course would never complain about it since he loved Henry and Connor, but Connor refused to let Hank exhaust himself to the brink of sickness.

"You know, Henry is going to need to have a room of his own in a few months." Connor stated as Henry roamed around and kicked over some blocks he had partially stacked up earlier that morning. "And it's going to be harder to keep him contained without putting up barricades everywhere."

Hank sighed a little as he turned to look at Connor as the deviant headed Henry off at the kitchen. "Yeah, I know."

"I recently learned that the Brilstein's next door are moving, and that their house is for sale."

"Yeah?" Of course Hank already had an idea of what Connor was hinting at.

"I've already made them an offer and I think they'll accept it."

Smirking a little Hank forced himself to sit up on the couch and watched as Connor kept Henry from trying to climb on the bookshelves in the livingroom. "So you're going to move out into your own house, but just go right next door?"

"If my offer gets accepted, yes."

"Cool."

"...You won't be lonely?"

"Connor, you're going to be living right next door. It's not like you're moving out of state, or even across town. And I know that you'll be stopping by all the time anyway, so it's not a big deal. Besides, you'll be taking Henry and I'll be keeping Sumo so you don't have to worry about Henry trying to 'sample' dog food when your back in turned. Trust me, a toddler who takes a bit of dog food is going to spit up and it won't be pretty..."

"I'm glad you're okay with us moving."

"Connor, you're free to do your own thing and Henry's your son. You know what's best for him, and if you think moving into your own house to give Henry a safer environment to explore is the best choice, then do it. I'll help you as much as I can, and I'll always be there to watch over Henry whenever you need me to. I promise."

"I know that." Picking up Henry, eliciting a grumpy 'no' from the toddler for his efforts, Connor gave Hank an appreciative nod. "Thanks, dad."

* * *

_**Henry: 2 Years Old.** _

As much as Connor loved Henry he had to admit that he wasn't a fan of the dreaded 'terrible-twos'. It wasn't a daily occurrence, but Henry would sporadically have temper tantrums and would sometimes throw toys in anger. Hank helped Connor understand that it was all apart of the process of growing up, and to just stay patient. Fortunately Henry didn't have any problems while at daycare, so he didn't have to worry about that, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with an emotionally exhausting toddler having a meltdown at home.

Sitting on the couch in his livingroom Connor listened to Henry screaming from his bedroom after being put in 'time-out' for throwing a glass bowl on the floor and shattering it because it was too cold to go outside and play. The deviant was tired and trying to wait the tantrum out.

A knock on the front door was almost welcome as Connor checked to see who it was. "You don't have to knock, dad. You're welcome here all the time."

"I, uh, I can hear Henry from next door." Hank saw Connor's coin anxiously dancing over his knuckles as he was beginning to stress a little. "He sounds pissed!"

"Oh... Sorry."

Hank crossed his arms over his chest and gave the exhausted deviant an amused look. "So what did he do?"

"Intentionally broke a glass bowl because I won't let him play outside in the cold. No, he didn't cut himself on the broken glass, he's just mad."

"At least he isn't hurt. And just wait until he starts getting mad at you for keeping inedible stuff out of his mouth. All. Day. Long."

"...I don't think that'll be preferable to the temper tantrums."

"How long has Henry been screaming?"

"...Fifty-two minutes, nine seconds."

"He'll tire out soon."

"How in the world did you put up with temper tantrums without feeling completely drained?"

"The truth is, I didn't. It's just something you have to deal with as Henry learns boundaries and manners."

"When will it stop?"

"Another two years, tops."

"...Two years?"

"Connor." Hank put his hand on the deviant's shoulder empathetically as Henry's high pitched scream made him flinch. "When this is all over you won't remember the tantrums or sleepless nights, you'll only remember him growing up and making you happy. I promise!"

"I hope so. I don't want to simply delete these negative memories, but as long as they aren't more prevalent than the positive memories I think it'll be worth keeping it."

"What about the potty-training? How's that going for ya'?"

"Not as bad as I initially feared, he's actually taken to it very well. He still wears a diaper at night, but he hasn't had an 'accident' in four days."

"That's good to know." Hank listened as Henry let out one last pitiful whine before he finally quieted down and fell asleep. "And he's out. See?"

Connor held up the right palm of his hand and looked at the display of the video baby monitor set up in the crib. Henry was laying on his back completely asleep, and calm for the first time in almost an hour. It was an utter relief.

"...Do you want to stay for a while. I need someone to talk to who won't scream at me in return."

Laughing at the all too empathetic remark Hank was happy to have a chat with Connor. "Yeah, son. Let me give you a few tips on temper tantrums."

"Thank you... Please tell me everything."

* * *

_**Henry 3 Years Old.** _

From the backyard of the house Hank tossed a plastic wiffle ball to Henry and watched as Henry managed to successfully swing his giant orange colored plastic bat and successfully strike the tossed ball. As the wiffle ball rolled along the grass back toward Hank's feet Sumo trotted over to the ball and picked it up for himself as if playing fetch.

"Great hit, Henry!" Hank complimented as the little boy smiled at Hank. Pulling the ball from Sumo's mouth he prepared to give it another toss. "Ready?"

"Yeah, Papa!" Henry shouted excitedly. "Again!"

"Head's up!"

Once more Hank threw the wiffle ball and Henry managed another successful swing. The ball went a little higher in the air before falling to the grass and rolling over to Hank's feet.

"You're doing great, kid. One more?"

"Yeah!"

As Hank tossed the wiffle ball again Sumo let out a bark as soon Connor set foot in the backyard and watched Henry make another successful swing. The ball flew a few feet through the hair before bouncing off the grass and rolling past Hank up toward the back deck. Connor scooped up the ball and tossed it back to Hank.

"Hi, Henry." Connor called out to his son proudly.

"Hi, daddy!"

Hank tossed the ball a little into the air and caught it again himself. "Hey, son. Anything good happen on your shift?"

"Four drunk college students broke into a library to study and passed out in the 'self-help' section."

Laughing at the absurdity of the case he looked to Henry and prepared another pitch. "Hey, Henry! See if you can hit this to dad!"

Henry managed to swing the bat and hit the ball easily, and while it didn't soar through the air it did in fact bounce and roll in Connor's direction.

"Perfect!"

Connor picked up the ball again and tilted his head. "He has remarkable hand-eye coordination already."

"He's a natural athlete." Boasting like the proud grandpa he was he returned his attention to Henry and gave him a new idea. "How about tomorrow we play some basketball, Henry? Would you like that?"

"Yeah!"

Tossing the ball to Hank casually Connor walked over to Henry and picked up the little boy, putting him over his shoulder much to Henry's delight causing him to laugh. "I'll join you and play basketball with Papa, tomorrow." Walking back to the house with Hank at his side Connor let Henry down on the kitchen floor, and once Sumo was through the backdoor Henry focused on playing fetch with the massive dog in the livingroom.

"I already got him something for dinner." Hank stated as he dropped the ball on the kitchen floor and opened up the freezer to get a bag of ice for his back. "I hope you don't mind pizza."

"No, that's fine. He deserves a little treat for sleeping all through the night in his 'big boy' bed last night."

"Wow. Does he still need the nightlight?"

"Yeah, but not as bright as he used to keep it."

"A three year old working to overcome his fear of the dark. That's really impressive."

Connor only hummed at the comment as he awkwardly shuffled on his feet and broke eye contact with Hank.

"Something on your mind?"

"...Maybe."

"Maybe? Come on, what's bothering you?"

"There was an interesting rumor circulating through the bullpen today."

Hank sighed and pressed the ice to his back. "About me."

"There's been talk that you're going to retire soon."

"Uh, yeah, but not for another year or so."

"Oh. May I ask why?"

"Well, again I'm getting old, son. And in that time Henry will be in kindergarten. It'll be hard to keep a consistent babysitter in the house with our bizarre work schedules, so I figured that'd make it easier on everyone."

"I could hire a nanny."

"Yeah, right. Connor, I know you." Pressing the ice to his back even firmer he gave Connor a knowing glance. "You wouldn't trust a stranger with your son, and you won't hire an android to work for you because you'd feel guilty about it."

"I suppose you're correct. But you don't have to-"

"I know I don't HAVE to retire, but I want to." Hank interrupted quickly. "But again, that's not going to be for a while, alright?"

"Right. I understand."

"Hey, come on. You know I wasn't going to stay there forever."

"Yeah, but I don't like the idea of going to the precinct and not having you there to watch my back."

"I hate to break it to ya' kid, but you don't need me to watch your back anymore. You're doing just fine."

Connor turned to look at Hank and gave him a rather somber glance as he took his the detective's words to heart. "...You're my dad, I'll always need you to watch my back."

Always appreciative of Connor's kind words Hank patted Connor's shoulder as the two walked into the livingroom where Henry was laughing and rolling around on the floor with Sumo. "Trust me, son. You don't need me."

"Yeah, I do."

As the two detectives sat on the couch and watched Henry playing with Sumo the two realized how long they've known each other and how much they've come to rely on each other. It felt like they've been father and son for decades, not just a handful of years. And watching Henry grow up so fast only made the feeling that much stronger.

"We _both_ need you, dad."

"Good thing I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here, son. Don't worry."

* * *

_**Henry: Four Years Old.** _

Feeling a tad awkward and very out of place Connor sat at the desk across from the preschool teacher who had accepted Henry's application admission and was now having a parent-teacher conference with the deviant. Sitting in a classroom with small chairs, desks, toys and brightly colored walls adorned with the alphabet and numbers was very new to Connor, and it showed in his uncomfortable demeanor.

Henry himself was sitting in the corner of the room putting together a small puzzle with dinosaurs on it while his application was being discussed.

"Henry is an exemplary student, Mr. Anderson. You should be proud!" The teacher proclaimed with sincerity her voice. "He's well spoken, already knows his numbers and letters, he can even read at a second grade level. You must've read to him very frequently while he was a baby."

"I would try to read to him as often as possible," Connor confirmed as he felt a deserved sense of pride fill his heart. "but I think his grandfather deserves more credit."

"Well, between you two I know that Henry is growing up to be a bright, well-rounded young man. I just have one item I'd like to ask about."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I noticed that when you filled out information on Henry's application you left the information on his mother blank. I take it she's not in the picture?"

"No. She..." He looked over at Henry and lowered his voice. He couldn't bring himself to tell Henry about Skye yet. "She passed away."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. It's tough to be a single parent, but it seems like you're managing just fine."

"Y-Yeah, my own father has been helping immensely."

"Well, no need to worry. Henry has been accepted and can begin attending class on September fourteenth. He'll be placed in our gifted program along with the other students."

"That's a relief to know."

"And I know it's hard to send your child off to school for the first time, but I assure you Henry will receive the best education and will be treated very well here."

"I know." Standing up from the chair he shook hands with the teacher and smiled. "Is there anything special that I'll need to prepare for Henry?"

"Well, we do offer snacks throughout the day, but if you want to pack Henry his own meals that's understandable. But really all he'll need is to show up at nine in the morning and be picked up at two in the afternoon."

"That's manageable. I'm certain his grandfather will be available to take care of him while I'm working."

"I'll see you in two weeks."

"Of course. I'll see you then." Holding out his hand Connor walked over to the corner and called to his son. "Come on, Henry. Let's go."

"Coming, daddy!"

* * *

After leaving the preschool hand in hand Connor took Henry to the park where Hank used to take Cole and let him know about his admission to preschool, as well as how he'd be the one to drop him off in the morning while Hank would be the one to pick him up. Henry didn't seem to mind and loved the idea of spending afternoons at Papa's house since Sumo was over there.

It eased Connor's own worries to see Henry so confident and unafraid.

"You'll be able to make friends and play games with other kids while you're in preschool learning." Connor stated as he pushed Henry on the swing set at the park. "You might even find new books to read."

"Will I make friends like Markus?"

"Uh, maybe. I don't think you'll make friends with too many adults, Henry."

"Can I bring Sumo?"

"No, sorry. Preschool is for children only. Dogs have obedience school instead."

"What's 'obeunce'?" Henry had a hard time with the word, but Connor knew what he meant.

"'Obedience' means someone listens to what they were told and don't argue."

"Like when Papa tells Sumo to sit?"

"Exactly."

"Can we go see Papa?"

"Of course." Gently bringing the swing to a stop Connor helped Henry out of the seat and held his hand again as they began walking home. "I think he'd be thrilled to know you're starting preschool in two of weeks."

"How long do I go?"

"For eight and half months. Then you get three months to play before starting kindergarten."

"What's 'kinnergardun'?"

"Kindergarten continues to teach you after you finish preschool. It's like starting a new chapter in a story."

"Oh." Henry happily skipped about as he held Connor's hand on their way back from the park and to the house. "Is it fun?"

"Yeah." Connor had no idea how anything in preschool worked since he was never a kid, but he did know to make sure Henry felt confident. "You'll like it."

* * *

Hank was indeed proud to know that Henry had been accepted into preschool and was being placed in the gifted program. Treating the bright young man to a bowl of ice cream he and Connor watched as Henry laid on his belly on the livingroom floor with an alphabet book under his nose as he ate his delicious treat. Sumo was watching from afar, ready to clean up any possible messes left behind.

Connor noticed that Hank seemed to be transfixed on the sight before him and quietly asked if he was okay. "You seem upset. Are you alright, dad?"

"I'm fine, it's just..." Standing up from the couch discreetly he motioned for Connor to follow after him. The two walked down the hallway where the detective opened up his bedroom door, then his closet. Pulling down a box of photographs he sat on the edge of the bed and sifted through the images until he found one of interest. "Look at this."

Connor held the offered photo and ran a scan over it. "This is Cole. He looks..."

"Like Henry."

The photo showed Henry laying on the floor with the original Sumo when he was about the same age as Henry is now. The resemblance was uncanny.

Hank took the photo from Connor's fingers and turned it over. "Read the back."

"Cole Anderson, age four... first day of preschool."

"It's like looking into the past. It catches me off guard sometimes and I have to take a few minutes to get my head back together, you know?"

"Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good now. And I'm more than happy to pick up Henry from preschool and take care of him in the afternoons, so don't worry."

"I take it you mean to retire soon?"

Sighing Hank continued to sort through the photos with a heavy heart. "I put in the request six months ago. This coming Friday is my last day."

"Why... didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd be upset. But like I said even though we won't be working together anymore we will still being hanging out in the afternoons and I'll be there to help take care of Henry." Sensing Connor's anxiety Hank wanted to make sure his son was going to be able to handle the changes alright. "Now it's my turn to ask. Are YOU going to be okay?"

"Yeah. It'll be a strange adjustment but I'll be okay."

"Come on. Let's get back to Henry and away from the past for a while."

"Good idea. I'm sure he's finished reading by now."

* * *

When Hank's final Friday rolled around the bullpen was blessed with a quiet day and there were no belligerent drunks yelling slurs from the nearby holding cells. Despite his best efforts to keep it from happening a retirement party was being thrown on his behalf in the conference room by his fellow officers. Being a good sport Hank went along with the small party, which was respectfully kept small on Hank's behalf, and was greeted by his fellow officers to bid him the best of the luck in the future.

Ben Collins, who had been an understanding and patient officer with Hank during so many cases in the past, made sure to stop by and give Hank a hearty handshake. Ben himself had retired three years prior, but was still in the city. Jeffrey Fowler had also arrived to see Hank off, the two old friends had seemingly been able to patch things up when Captain Fowler himself retired, and were still on good terms as they spoke to one another in the conference room.

Soon other officers filed in one at a time from the bullpen to say their goodbyes and shake Hank's hand. Tina was first and managed to slip in a cake to be shared throughout the bullpen later on. Almost tearful Tina made sure Hank knew how much she respected him before she had to go out on patrol and perform her responsibilities to the city.

Chris and Jack followed after her and expressed their utmost respect toward their retiring Captain. With a strong handshake Chris bid Hank farewell as he and Jack were assigned a new case to handle. And Jack of course managed to respond appropriately despite still learning how to be a deviant, and subsequently how to be more human.

Always a master of his emotions Hank kept his resolve as he was given a respectful sendoff by his officers.

Joel entered the conference room and knocked on the door to get the detective's attention. Despite only being the precinct technician and not an actual office in the bullpen, Joel felt it necessary to pay his respects as well. It was during his goodbye that Gavin stepped inside the room and waited for Joel to take his leave so he could speak with Hank in private.

"So... You're really outta' here?" Gavin asked in a somewhat nervous manner.

"Yeah. Between my back going out on me more and more, and Henry starting school, it's just easier this way."

"Hard to believe eight years ago I was convinced you would've... you know."

"Drank myself to death?"

"Yeah."

"You're not the only one. For what it's worth, you were right to give me shit for being a pathetic drunk."

"No, no. Now that I have my own kid I know I was wrong to be such an asshole to you. I shouldn't have been such a prick to you, or to Connor."

"I'm pretty sure you got what you deserved when Connor punched you."

"Yeah. Twice." Noticing that the deviant was curiously absent Gavin dared to ask. "Where is the 'Tinman' anyway?"

"He'll be by soon. Henry had a check-up."

"Let me guess, you're going to retire from here so you can be a full-time grandpa out there."

"Pretty much, yeah. It's a hell of a lot better gig than dealing with sorry drunks, drug-dealers and bigots pulling guns on me all damn day."

"Yeah, not going to argue on that one."

From the opened conference door Connor entered with Henry at his side and let the four year old run over to Hank excitedly.

"Hi Papa!"

"Hey, Henry!" As much as his back hated it whenever he picked up Henry, Hank did it anyway. "Good to see ya'."

Gavin just stared at the little boy's face for a moment before looking at Connor. "Jeez... He looks exactly like you."

Connor's brow arched a little as he gave Gavin an odd look. "I believe that was the point."

"No, I mean... It's like there was no, uh, 'steps' taken for him to be here. It's like he's all your blood. It's pretty awesome."

Smirking a little Connor understood what Gavin was saying and merely nodded. "I know what you're saying. And thank you."

"Right. Uh, I have to handle another case, so..."

"I understand. Go." Connor turned to see Hank offering Henry a small piece of the cake much to the four year old's delight before sitting him down in one of the chairs. "It's official. You're retired."

"Well, not until I clock out anyway."

"Do you regret it?"

"Not at all." Hank replied confidently as he sat down next to Henry. "It'll be a strange adjustment to not have an entire precinct to take care of, but I'll be able to handle it soon enough."

"Do you know who is taking over the precinct on your behalf?"

"Yeah, she just got promoted and is moving in from Ann Arbor. Her name is Captain Rebecca Foxworth. She's younger than the average captain but she's got a ton of experience and an impressive arrest record. She's also an advocate for android rights, and had been one long before the revolution."

"Good to know I'll have another ally."

Henry finished off his cake and turned to look at Hank. "Papa, can we play basketball at home?"

"Sure. We can play for a little while when I get home from work."

Connor nodded as he agreed to the game and extended his hand to ask Henry to come over to him. "Papa will be home in a couple of hours. Come on, let's get back to the house and take care of Sumo."

"Okay!"

Hank smiled as the upbeat little boy grabbed onto Connor's hand and held tightly. "Bye, guys."

Connor turned to acknowledge Hank before he got too far away. "See you at home, dad."

"See ya', son. See ya' later, Henry!"

"Bye!" The little boy shouted back excitedly.

Leaning back in the chair Hank let out a tired sigh and discreetly pressed his hand to his aching back. The pain was getting worse and it was time to retire, even if Hank didn't have a grandson to take care of he would've retired all the same thanks to age alone.

"All these years of medical and technological breakthroughs and no one can figure out how to stop the human body from giving up on itself."

* * *

Arriving in front of the preschool building at eight-fifty in the morning Connor looked at Henry sitting in the backseat of the Corvette in his booster seat with a big smile on his face. The little boy was fearless and very excited to begin his first day of preschool, whereas Connor and Hank weren't quite so ready to have an afternoon without Henry.

"Are you ready, Henry?" Connor asked as he turned off the engine and opened up the driver's side door.

"Yup!"

Pushing forward the driver's seat Connor unfastened the safety restraints on the booster seat and lifted Henry up and out of the vehicle. "Are you nervous?"

"Nope!"

"Are you going to be good?"

"Yup!"

"Do you know what time Papa is going to come and pick you up?"

"At two."

"Very good." Taking Henry by the hand again Connor led the little boy up to the front doors of the preschool and showed him to his new classroom. "I'll see you and Papa after I get out of work today. Okay?"

"Okay!"

Kneeling down in front of Henry with a proud smile Connor wrapped his arms around his son and gave him a hug. "I love you Henry. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye dad!"

As soon as Henry was free of the hug he excitedly ran into the classroom and disappeared among the other four year olds gathered in the play area of the room. Standing upright Connor looked to Henry's teacher and nodded before taking his leave to head out to the precinct and begin his shift. As he entered the car to take his leave Connor felt a mixture of joy and dread swim over his heart.

Driving to the precinct he sent a cybernetic text to Hank and watched the preschool shrinking away in the reflection on the rearview mirror. "Henry's at preschool. He seems excited." Connor sent a selected image from his visual memory to Hank's phone to show him how happy Henry looked. "And fearless."

There was a pause before Hank replied. ' _And how're you holding up_?'

"I'm a little sad to know Henry won't be spending the day with either of us, but I'm happy he isn't afraid to begin school."

' _He'll be just fine, Connor_. _The first few days of school are always the hardest on the parents_.'

"Yeah. I'm beginning to realize this."

' _Go to work, son_. _Henry will be fine_.'

* * *

Clocked out and free to return home Connor stopped by Hank's house next door to his own house and spotted Henry laying on the floor with a coloring book and a massive box of crayons. As he stepped through the door Connor was greeted by Henry's big smile as the four year old ran over to him and hugged his legs excitedly.

"How was your first day of preschool?" Connor reciprocated the hug and noticed Hank in the kitchen cooking dinner for Henry.

"Good! I got a star sticker!"

"That's great, Henry. Did you have fun?"

"Yup! I like playing with the keyboard!"

"Keyboard? A computer keyboard or an electronic piano keyboard?"

"Piano."

"That's good to know." Picking up Henry to carry into the kitchen he greeted Hank just as the now retired detective turned off the stove. "How was your first day of retirement?"

"Quiet. Just as I like it!" Hank pointed to the refrigerator and smirked. "It got even better when Henry gave me that drawing."

It was a crayon drawing of Sumo by a giant tree. It said 'For Papa' in the top left corner and it had Henry's name messily scrawled in the bottom right corner in blue crayon.

"That's a great drawing of Sumo, Henry."

"The teacher liked it too!"

"Are you ready to go back tomorrow?"

"Yup! I want to keep playing with the keyboard!"

Connor tilted his head a little. "Maybe Markus can give you piano lessons some time. Would you like that?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Alright. Eat your dinner and I'll see what I can do."

"Okay!"

Hank patted Connor's shoulder after he put down a plate in front of Henry and motioned for the deviant to accompany him outside to the back deck. Sumo was already running around the backyard and immediately rushed over to Connor to greet him happily. The deviant rubbed his hand over Sumo's ears affectionately and stooped down to rub his chin.

"Connor, my back is really killin' me. I'm going to go see a chiropractor tomorrow before I need to pick up Henry from preschool."

"Do you want me to drive you?"

"No, I can move just fine it's just everything I do hurts me."

"Maybe being retired will take the tension away from your back so you can finally heal entirely."

"Are you talking about that psycho stabbing me?"

"Yeah. The core muscles in the human torso take much longer to heal because they are in constant use from breathing and balance. Even after all this time you would still be healing. And the surgery from your double kidney transplant would only delay your recovery further."

"I hope it's as simple as that. I don't want to be laid up all the time with ice and heating pads."

Standing up from the deck Connor let out a weary sigh and stared at the setting sun in the distance. "As much as I dislike the idea of not being able to work with you, I dislike the idea of you being in pain even more. Do what you have to do to let your back heal."

"I'm trying, son. I really am." Motioning toward the backdoor Hank made his way back inside. "Come on, you better get Henry back home after he finishes dinner so he can have a bath and go to bed. He has _school_ tomorrow."

* * *

_**Henry: Five Years Old.** _

It was well into the fall and cold and flu season was hitting the city hard. Connor had received a call from the elementary school informing him that Henry was sick and quickly clocked out to go pick him up. Locating Henry laying down on his side on a small cot in the school nurse's office Connor pressed his hand to his son's forehead and felt him running a fever.

"Hi, Henry. How do you feel?"

"...Bad."

"I'm sorry." Very gently Connor picked Henry up and Henry pressed his head down against Connor's shoulder. Looking to the school nurse who had been taking care of the sick little boy Connor asked about his condition. "How long has he been feeling unwell?"

"His teacher noticed he didn't eat much during snack time at eleven this morning, and he didn't want to play at all during recess at eleven fifteen." The nurse handed Connor the dark blue backpack and jacket that Henry had been wearing that morning. "Henry didn't say anything to the teacher until he thought he was going to get sick and throw-up on the playground."

"Did he?"

"No, fortunately. A lot of kids have colds right now so I wouldn't be surprised if Henry caught one this morning."

Connor nodded and rubbed his hand along Henry's back. "Were you feeling bad this morning?"

"A little."

"A little?" Connor repeated with an arched brow. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't know."

The comment was as innocent as it was eerily reminiscent of his own attitude toward feeling unwell or injured in the past. "Okay, buddy. We'll go home and you can get some sleep."

"...I want Sumo."

"Okay. I'll take you to see Papa so you can cuddle with Sumo. I'm also going to let Markus know you won't be making your piano lesson after school today. But don't worry, Henry, he'll reschedule and you'll be able to keep up with your progress. Okay?"

"...'kay."

As soon as Connor cybernetically texted Hank that Henry was sick and wanted to visit Sumo, the retired detective was quick to respond and made sure Sumo had already taken care of business outside so he could spend all afternoon with Henry. Moving slowly and carefully Connor carried Henry, who was very sleepy, out of the car and into the house to lay down on the couch in the livingroom.

Sumo readily walked up to the couch and pressed his chin down on the cushion beside Henry as if he knew that his presence had been requested.

"Hey, Henry." Hank greeted his ill grandson and gave him a light kiss on the head. "Not feeling good, huh?"

"No..."

"Well, Sumo will help." He looked over at Connor and sighed. "So, what's the prognosis?"

"Probably just a cold, but he's running a fever of one-hundred point six degrees. I don't want to take any chances."

"Good decision. I'll grab him a pillow and a blanket." Reaching down his hand Hank rubbed Henry's arm lightly. "You stay as long as you want Henry, okay?"

"Okay." Henry's voice was sad and sounded weak making both Connor and Hank's hearts break.

Connor hated it whenever Henry caught a cold, but something in his paternal instincts told him that whatever Henry had wasn't just a cold this time. Henry never let a cold slow him down before and he never admitted if he was feeling sick. For him to be so still and willing to admit he felt bad was something new to the deviant father.

While Hank went to get Henry the blanket and pillow Connor sat down on the couch beside his son and lightly ran his hand over Henry's thick, brown hair. Henry's hair didn't have the light, natural looking curl to it like Connor's hair, Henry's was perfectly straight like Skye's hair. He did, however, have it styled in a manner similar to Connor's simply because it was the default style Connor knew whenever he helped Henry brush out his hair in the morning.

"Does your head hurt?" Connor asked in a low voice as he noticed that Henry was pale and very tired.

"...Yeah."

"What about your stomach?"

"...Uh-huh."

Hank placed the thickest pillow in the house down on the couch for Henry while Connor draped the equally thick quilt over him softly. Sumo kept his head on the couch, letting his face get buried under the quilt, and Henry laughed a little at Sumo for being so laidback and silly.

"Try to nap for a while, Henry." Connor ran his hand through Henry's hair again. "You should feel better."

Too tired to say anything Henry closed his eyes and fell asleep while Connor turned on the television and found an animated children's movie to play in low volume. Standing up slowly from the couch as to not disturb Henry in the process Connor walked into the kitchen and let out a sigh.

"You think he's sicker than a cold," Hank deduced as he followed Connor into the kitchen. "don't you?"

"Usually whenever Henry catches a cold he gets a very mild fever and a runny nose. But he's tired, feverish, nauseated and has a headache. This isn't the same as a cold."

"Not all colds behave the same way. If he isn't feeling better by morning, or he gets worse tonight, then we'll both take him in to see a pediatrician."

"Yeah, good idea." Looking about the kitchen Connor asked about making something for Henry to eat. "Do you mind if I make Henry-"

"Like you need to ask. The kitchen's all yours. I'll go sit with Henry and keep an eye on him."

"Thanks, dad."

A few hours passed and Henry was still out like a light. Connor had made Henry some soup to eat once he woke up while Hank put a cool washcloth over the boy's feverish forehead. Fortunately Henry was sleeping peacefully and he wasn't getting any worse, but he wasn't getting any better either. Sumo had jumped up onto the couch to lay next to Henry, his massive fluffy body nearly concealing the small boy, and kept him company.

"It's getting late." Connor stated in a low voice as he leaned over the back of the couch to look down at Henry. "But I don't want to disturb him."

"You're both welcome to stay here. Either crash in your old bedroom or sleep in the recliner."

"I'm worried that if he does have a serious cold it could be passed to you."

"Connor, if I can survive a lunatic stabbing me in the kidney, gunshots and maniacs with a vendetta against the city I can handle a little cold."

"Yeah... I know."

"It's your turn to get some sleep, now. Go." Hank rose from the recliner and motioned to the vacated space with his arm. "I'll be down the hall if you need anything."

Relenting to the request to take a moment to rest Connor walked over to the vacated recliner and sat down slowly. Powering down to a light rest mode to ensure if there was any change in Henry's condition or he asked for him that he'd wake up immediately and be able to help out, Connor fell asleep. Within two hours of entering rest mode Connor snapped awake and was greeted by Henry standing in front of the recliner with tears in his eyes, and Sumo standing at the small boy's side.

"Henry? What's the matter?" Connor pressed his hand over Henry's forehead and realized that his fever had slowly risen to another degree. "What's wrong?"

"I don't feel good." The frustrated boy stated as he began scratching at his left forearm. He was paler than usual and seemed to be very uncomfortable. "My arm is itchy."

"Itchy?" Gently Connor took Henry's arm in his hand and saw two small red welts forming on his pale skin. Running a scan on the small blemishes and relaying Henry's systems Connor's cybernetic database gave him an answer, and it made him feel as terrible as Henry looked. "Oh no. Henry, it looks like you have the chicken pox."

"What's that?"

"It means you're sick." Letting go of Henry's arm Connor reached down and picked up the sick boy to hold in his own arms. He could feel that Henry was radiating a consistent heat and more blemishes courtesy of the chicken pox were beginning to slowly appear over his face and neck. "I'm going to run you a cool bath."

"A bath?"

"It'll make you feel better. It worked for me when I was sick with-" Instead of saying the entirely accurate condition known as Pyrexia Impairment, a.k.a. _android_ chicken pox, Connor replied more simply, but just as honestly. "I had the chicken pox, too. A cool washcloth helped with the itching, so I know a cool bath will help you feel better, quicker."

Opening the bathroom door Connor turned on the tap in the bathtub and began drawing a cool bath for Henry. Sitting Henry down on the sink Connor helped the sick little boy remove his school clothes and then wrapped him up in a fluffy, blue towel. As the tub filled Connor pressed his hand over Henry's forehead again and noted the other red blemishes beginning to form on Henry's skin right before his eyes.

"I know it's going to be hard to do Henry," Connor empathized with his son's illness and wrapped his arms around him in a comforting hug. "but you can't scratch your chicken pox. If you do it'll make your skin feel worse and it can make you feel sicker."

"But it itches!"

"I know. I'll do everything I can to make the itching stop."

Glancing at the water level in the bathtub Connor carried Henry over and sat down on the edge of the tub with Henry on his lap. Turning off the faucet and checking the water's temperature Connor found it to be ideal and helped Henry to sit down in the tub slowly. Staying on the edge of the tub with the towel over his lap Connor saw additional blemishes now forming over Henry's back.

"You'll feel better in a few minutes." Slipping off his jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his white dress shirt Connor prepared to take care of his son. "Let me know if you feel too cold."

There was a knock on the opened door and Hank stepped inside looking sleepy, yet somehow alert. "Hey, what's going on?"

Connor turned to look at Hank and gave him a pleading stare. "Henry has the chicken pox."

"Aw, man." Hank let out a tired sigh and stepped back out of the bathroom. "Hold on, Henry. Papa knows what'll stop the itch."

Making a cup with his hand Connor scooped up some of the cool water and gently ran it through Henry's hair to try to ease his fever. As he did so Hank returned with a canister of oatmeal and proceeded to pour a generous helping into the water. Both Connor and Henry gave the retired detective the same confused look.

"I know it looks weird, but trust me, it'll help. The oatmeal will help stop the itching and keep Henry's skin from drying out while being sick." Putting aside the canister Hank reached under the sink and found a bottle of bright pink Calamine lotion. "This will help, too." Grabbing onto Henry's school clothes Hank made his way back out of the bathroom. "I'll throw his clothes in the washer and get Henry his spare pajamas."

"Thanks." Connor continued to carefully run the now oatmeal littered cool water over Henry's hair and along his back. "How do you feel, Henry?"

"Sleepy."

"Just sit in there for a few more minutes and then you can go lay down in my old bed to sleep. Okay?"

Henry nodded quietly as he pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his forehead against his knees.

Connor took a washcloth and dipped it into the water then he began wiping the cool, soothing water over his back very gently. As the cool water began to ease Henry's fever the little boy let out a sad whimper as his skin was really beginning to itch. Knowing that Henry was (trying) to suffer in silence Connor's heart began to ache. Waiting for ten minutes to give the cool water enough to work on Henry's overheating, itchy skin Connor gently picked Henry up back up out of the water and placed him on his lap, over the towel and used it to dry him off.

Hank placed the clean pajamas down on the floor at Connor's feet and picked a drying flake of oatmeal from Henry's hair. "I'll put some lotion on your skin, it'll stop the itching and you'll be able to sleep."

Henry was trying not to cry as he sat on Connor's lap. Instinctively Connor 'shushed' Henry to try to soothe him as he used the towel to dry him off, and Hank began to apply the lotion to his raw skin.

"It's okay, Henry. I promise this will only happen one time." Connor stated calmly as he very carefully rubbed his hand over Henry's sore back. "Once you get the chicken pox you'll never catch it again. You'll be immune forever."

"You get his legs." Hank stated as he passed the lotion over to Connor. "I'll help him get his shirt on and then get a Benadryl and a mild fever reducer. It'll stop the itching and let him sleep more comfortably tonight."

"Good idea, thanks dad."

Together the two detectives took care of Henry, soothing his skin and getting him into his clean pajamas, all the while holding Henry and soothing his discomfort as much as possible.

"Come on, Henry." Connor carried his son into his old bedroom where his old bed was still set up and covered in clean sheets and a thick quilt. "You need to sleep. The more you sleep the better you'll feel, okay?"

"It's dark." Henry complained as he was laid down on the bed and tucked under the quilt.

"We don't have a nightlight here, Henry." Connor thought of an alternate solution pretty quickly. "Would Sumo make you feel better?"

The little boy nodded as Connor ran his hand over Henry's damp hair.

Hank had overheard the conversation and coaxed Sumo into the bedroom. As the massive dog clumsily leapt up and laid down on the foot of the bed to snuggle down for the night Henry made another sad whimper.

"What's wrong, Henry?" Connor ask as he sat down on the edge of the bed beside his son. "Is something else making you feel bad?"

"Everything hurts."

"...Everything... hurts?" Connor looked over to Hank for guidance who quickly understood what was going on.

"Body aches. Just like whenever I get the flu or something."

"O-Oh." Connor was somewhat relieved to know it was normal for humans to experience body aches when sick. "I'm sorry, Henry. I'll try to make the pain stop, okay?"

"Here you go." Hank brought in the small doses of medication for Henry to take. "One will stop the itching," he stated as he showed Henry the tiny amount of pink liquid in a pre-measured cup, then showed him a second cup with a small amount of red liquid. "and the other will bring down your fever."

Reluctantly Henry sat up and looked at the medicine with a heavy grimace. Connor helped Henry to take the medicine one at a time, and saw that the little boy hated the taste openly.

"...It's strawberry." Henry complained as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"Don't worry Henry, you don't have to take medicine everyday." Connor reminded him. "Want some juice or water?"

Henry nodded a little and Hank grinned.

"Already gotcha' covered, Henry." Hank held out a small plastic cup filled with apple juice and the little boy took a sip quickly. "Better?"

Henry nodded again and laid back down against the pillow, his face still miserable and sad.

Connor pulled up the quilt to Henry's shoulder and his mouth twitched as he offered up another suggestion to try to make Henry feel better. "Do you want me to rub your back?"

Henry silently nodded still feeling lousy. Connor put his hand on Henry's shoulder and helped him to roll onto his side facing toward Connor as he laid down beside him and began to rub his back gently.

"Try to sleep." The deviant spoke softly as he urged Henry to get some rest. "You won't itch while you sleep."

Sumo let out a sympathetic whimper and rested his chin down on Henry's ankles as the little boy curled up on his side beside his father.

Hank nodded in agreement as he watched Connor's own eyes close as he continued to try to comfort his ill son. The retired detective waited from the doorway for Henry to fall asleep before turning off the bedroom light, but kept the light in the bathroom across the hallway on so it was shining into the room to act as a makeshift nightlight for his sick grandson.

"Goodnight, boys." Hank smiled with a whisper as he walked down the hallway and back to his bedroom for the rest of the night.

"...Goodnight, dad." Connor whispered back as to not disturb Henry. "Goodnight, Henry."

The following morning Connor called off of work to take care of Henry and proceeded to cuddle with the sick boy on the couch. Hank had managed to coax Henry into eating a little of the soup Connor made the night before, as well as a small piece of toast with peanut butter on it. It wasn't much but at least Henry was eating while he was sick.

Connor was laying stretched out over the couch on his back with Henry laying over his chest. As the sick boy napped through his illness Hank draped a blanket over the duo and held up his phone to show Connor that he had been texting with Abby since last night.

"Well, it turns out Henry is just one of a dozen kids at the school with chicken pox so far. Aria caught it too and got sick this morning. She's in the second kindergarten across the hall from Henry, right?"

"Correct."

"I guess recess is the most opportune place for germs to jump from one kid to another."

"It's best if children get sick with the chicken pox at a young age than at an older age, right?"

"Yup. I was ten when I got the chicken pox, and it sucked. I still have a few scars, but I never caught it again."

"How long did it last?"

"Well, I had a fever for almost a week and then... it took almost another week after that for all the sores on my skin to clear up. The same happened to Cole when he was about three years old."

"Two weeks?" Connor sighed and rubbed his hand gently over Henry's back sympathetically. "Poor Henry."

"He'll be okay, Connor. Kids are tough."

"That doesn't make it any easier to see him so miserable."

"I know, son. Trust me, _I know_."

Henry wasn't scratching and seemed to be resting comfortably as he slept with his ear pressed up against Connor's chest to listen to his heartbeat.

"Do you think Henry would like some ice cream when he wakes up?"

"I know I would. Don't worry, Connor. Henry will be getting five-star treatment while he recovers."

"Thanks, dad. I know we can always count on you."

* * *

_**Henry: Six Years Old.** _

A loud scream followed by crying from the backyard made Connor go running from the kitchen, the stove completely forgotten about, and outside in matter of seconds. Laying on the ground beside the fence that lined the rear of the property was Henry who was crying loudly and holding onto his left arm as he laid curled up on the ground. Next to Henry was a mess of pulled green leaves and extra twigs from the tree towering over the other side of the fence above the crying little boy.

"Henry!" Connor raced outside and knelt down on the grass beside his son. "Henry, what happened?"

Between sobs Henry managed to get out a few words that Connor understood. "Fell" and "Tree" stood out the most, followed by the word "Hurts".

"You were trying to climb the tree and fell?"

Henry nodded as Connor ran a scan over Henry's small body and was relieved to see that he hadn't suffered any injury to his spine, neck or skull. But there were two notable fractures in his left radius below his wrist. Scrapes and small cuts covered Henry's hands, arms, knees and his chin from when he fell out of the tree and hit the ground. Hard.

"Come on." Scooping Henry up into his arms Connor proceeded to carry him from the backyard and back into the house. As he made his way to the backdoor Connor notice that Hank was well on his way over as he too heard Henry scream. "I'll take care of your arm, Henry. But you're going to need to see a doctor."

Hank managed to get through the backdoor right behind Connor and followed after the deviant as Connor carried Henry into the bathroom to clean up his scrapes and cuts.

"Hey, Henry." Hank knelt on the floor beside him as Connor placed him on the edge of the bathtub. "It looks like you took a pretty bad fall."

Henry only nodded as he cried and sniffled.

"Did you climb the tree?"

Henry nodded again as Connor proceeded to gently press a damp, cool washcloth to the scrapes on his knees to clean them up.

"Didn't we say you shouldn't do that because the tree's too tall?"

Again Henry responded with a nod.

"And now do you know what we meant when we said it was too tall?"

Sniffing hard Henry gave Hank a sympathetic glance that just made Hank pressed his hand to the side of Henry's cheek and hold it there for a minute.

Connor proceeded to finish cleaning up the small wounds on Henry's knees and wrapped them up in gauze bandages. "Henry, does your arm still hurt?"

Henry sniffled again. "Yeah."

"We'll get you some ice for your arm, then we're going to have a doctor look at it."

"Why?"

"Because I think your arm is hurt bad enough it'll need to be put into a cast until it's better." Connor had become very skilled at explaining things to Henry in a simplified but intelligent manner to his young son so he could understand what was happening to him. "The cast will make sure you arm doesn't hurt you anymore and it will keep it safe until it's all better."

Hank lightly patted the side of Henry's face as he stood up from the floor. "I'll go get him an ice pack. Want me to go ahead and let the hospital know that Henry's on his way in?"

"That'd be a good idea." The deviant confirmed as he continued to clean up Henry's cuts and made sure there weren't any small bits of gravel or twigs, or anything else in his injuries as he cleaned them and bandaged them. Hank took his leave of the bathroom while Connor stayed with Henry. "How'd you even get up in the tree to begin with, Henry?"

"I... I grabbed a branch."

"The low branch hanging over the fence?"

"Uh-huh."

"The branch that me and your Papa told you to not climb on?"

"...Uh-huh."

Connor could see that Henry felt bad enough and had clearly learned his lesson. It was just a shame that he had to learn it in such a hard way. "Henry, I'm not mad. I'm just worried because you're hurt, that's all."

"I won't do it again."

"I know." Connor looked over his shoulder as Hank returned with a bag of ice wrapped up in a towel for Henry. As the ice was gently put on Henry's fractured arm Connor carefully picked Henry up and proceeded to carry him out of the bathroom and outside to the car. "We'll get your arm taken care of." Connor noticed there was a small amount of blood on Henry's bottom lip as well, and wanted to check for another injury. "Open your mouth."

Henry obeyed and opened his mouth, revealing that he had lost his bottom front tooth.

"You lost your loose tooth when you fell."

"I did?!" Henry pressed his fingers to his mouth in shock.

"Don't worry, the 'Tooth Fairy' will find it."

"You take care of Henry," Hank called out as the deviant carried Henry outside. "I'll take care of the mess in the backyard."

"Thanks, dad."

Two hours after taking Henry to the hospital the doctors confirmed the fracture in his arm and set in a protective cast. Sporting a dark blue cast on his left arm and carrying a cherry red popsicle in his right hand Henry walked back into the house alongside Connor. As the little boy walked back into the livingroom of the house he was greeted by Hank who was looking a little worn out and was covered in green grass and dirt.

"Hey, Henry." Hank called out as he wiped a cool cloth over the back of his sweaty neck. "Nice cast."

"I got to pick the color!" Henry beamed as he showed Hank his arm that had Connor's name (Dad) written on its side in white paint pen, in perfect CyberLife sans. Pulling the paint pen from his pocket with his bad arm, the cast making it somewhat difficult, he presented it to Hank. "Wanna' sign it?"

"Of course I do."

Connor glanced out the window in the kitchen to the backyard and saw that Hank had actually sawed off the low hanging branch and cleaned up the leaves that had collected by the fence when Henry fell. It was the neighbors tree that Henry had fallen from and that of course made the act a little worrying.

"Hey, uh, dad... What happened to the tree branch?"

"I asked the neighbors first, kid." Hank replied as he finished writing 'Papa' on Henry's cast. "They were cool with it since the branch grew over your property, and that by us getting rid of it they wouldn't have to worry about Henry getting hurt again."

"That's good."

"Wow, Henry. You have a lot of names on here already."

"Dad took me to see everyone before we came home. And Markus got me this popsicle!"

Carefully Hank turned over the cast to read all the other names printed neatly over the blue wrapping. "Let's see, you have my name, your dad, Markus, North, Josh, Simon, Aria, Gavin, Abby... Jason. Who's Jason?"

"My best friend!"

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Can Sumo sign my cast?"

"Uh, he might have trouble holding the pen. How about I write it for him?"

"Okay!"

Connor returned to the livingroom relieved to see Henry wasn't upset and wasn't in any pain after having his arm broken. "Henry suffered two hairline fractures to his radius. Fortunately they are stable breaks and won't require any surgical intervention to support the bones with pins."

"That's good to know." He gave his grandson a knowing glance as he spoke. "And now Henry knows why we didn't want him climbing the tree, right?

"Right." There was a smear of cherry red all around Henry's lips as he ate the popsicle, not that he cared. "I won't climb the tree no more."

"Good boy."

"Tomorrow you can show your cast to the rest of your class and get more names." Connor stated confidently as he stared at his brave, tough son. "Finish your popsicle so you can get a bath and go to bed, alright?"

"Can't I stay up a while longer?"

Knowing full well that Henry was going to fall asleep pretty quickly once he finally settled down Connor relented and allowed it. "Okay, but only a half hour."

"Thanks dad!"

Henry rushed off to his bedroom to play for a while and Connor ran his hand over his tired face.

"He scared the shit of ya', didn't he?"

"Yeah... I've never heard him scream that loud in his entire life. That was a whole new level of fear I felt."

"Well, you kept your cool and that kept him calm, too."

"Is it strange that I wished he had inherited my initial fear of heights?"

"I don't think phobias are genetic, son. You had your fear instilled from what those CyberLife creeps did to you." Crossing his arms over his chest Hank craned his neck to make sure Henry wasn't in hearing range. "If Henry does become afraid of heights he'll know exactly why it started and can overcome it a lot easier than you did."

"I get the feeling Henry's going to be able to overcome A LOT of things much easier than I did."

"Sure, why not?" Sitting down on the couch Hank rested his back and let out a weary sigh. "He had you to raise him, and you're the most empathetic person I've ever met. Hell, you actually felt bad for criminals who tried to _kill_ you."

"Fortunately I haven't been singled out for being an android in six years. That makes it easier to do my job."

"Yup. By the way, I finished taking care of the little dinner you were making before Henry got hurt."

"O-Oh... I must've forgotten to turn off the stove."

"Yeah, you're a dad alright. You put your son above everything else."

"I suppose I should also thank you for not allowing the kitchen to catch on fire during my abrupt departure."

"No problem, son. You can replace a a few burned pans and even entire kitchen, but you can't replace you own kid. Also," Hank reached into his pocket and presented Connor with Henry's missing tooth. "don't know how I actually found it, but I did."

"Thanks." Connor took the small tooth and held it between his index finger and thumb. "I imagine Henry getting a visit from the 'Tooth Fairy' tonight will make him feel better."

* * *

_**Henry: Seven Years Old.** _

A gorgeous summer had resulted in a long overdue family vacation to the cabin. Hank, Connor, Henry and even Sumo all went to the cabin to spend a week together, and to get away from the city for a while. It was Henry's first time at the cabin, and it had been years since Connor was able to join Hank at the cabin since he was still working and needed to tend to Henry at home.

Though he spent his weekends alone over the past few years Hank still loved going out to the cabin and had kept the place in pristine condition by himself.

"Here we are." Hank proudly announced as the Oldsmobile pulled up to the cabin and the family piled out together. "What do you think, Henry?"

"This place is yours?"

"Yup."

"That's so cool!"

The slightly taller and more well-spoken child shouted excitedly as he opened up the backdoor of the car, released his safety belt from his booster seat and jumped out of the car onto the dark green grass. Henry stretched out his legs and began running through the grass to get to the backyard of the cabin with a new sense of excitement. As he did Sumo, now older and moving slower, trudged after him protectively as he too jumped down from the backseat of the car.

Connor shouted after the energetic child while he helped Hank with the luggage from the trunk. "Henry, don't go near the lake!"

"Did you bring his life vest?"

"Yeah, it's packed with the rest of the fishing gear. ...I don't mind you taking Henry fishing, but-"

"I'll practice catch and release again, I swear."

"Thanks."

"Come on. It's the perfect day to take him out on the lake for a while."

"Of course. I'll take everything inside the cabin, you can get him ready to go out."

It only took Hank a few minutes to get Henry secured in his life vest and the fishing gear set up in the small boat. After filing the gas tank and checking the engine Hank released the rope securing the boat to the dock and pushed the boat a few inches from the dock with his foot. Connor was watching from the shoreline with Sumo plopped down in the cool grass beside him.

"Stay in the boat, Henry." Connor called out as the boat drifted a little further away from the dock and into the water. "Listen to Papa. He knows best!"

"I will! Bye dad!" Henry was waving excitedly as Hank pulled the starter on the engine and it roared to life. "See ya' later!"

Connor watched as the boat sped away from the dock and out into the middle of the lake at a steady clip. Kneeling down on the ground Connor pet Sumo's side and received a happy wag of the tail for his efforts from the lethargic, elderly dog.

"Good boy, Sumo. I hope this isn't your last summer with us, but if it is, we'll make it the best for you."

Sumo lifted up his head and licked at the side of Connor's arm affectionately as the two stayed at the cabin waiting for Hank and Henry to return from their private fishing trip together.

"Might as well take care of the cabin. Wanna' help?"

Sumo grumbled and laid back down in the shade.

"I didn't think so."

The sun was just beginning to set when Connor heard the fishing boat's engine coming closer to the dock, and he caught sight of the water craft returning to the property. Stepping outside of the cabin Connor walked through the backyard to greet the returning duo and helped guide the boat back over to the dock to be secured by the restraining rope.

Hank looked a little pale and Henry seemed a little quieter than normal upon their return.

"Are you two alright?" Connor wasn't going to let their behavior go unnoticed.

"Fine. Just tired." Hank responded quickly as he helped Henry to climb out of the boat. "What'd you do while we were out?"

"I finished unpacking and I proceeded to make a bonfire. I thought you and Henry would enjoy hamburgers tonight."

"Sounds great. Uh, I'm going to go lay down before my back acts up. Do you mind taking care of the fishing gear?"

"No, I got this. Go inside."

Standing up warily in the boat Hank set foot on the dock and slowly trudged toward the cabin without his hand pressed to his back as he walked. Though he seemed to be in pain it certainly wasn't in his back, and Connor had a hunch that whatever was bothering Hank was more emotional than physical.

"Henry," Connor spoke to his son in a low voice as they worked together to carry the tacklebox and fishing rods back to the cabin. "did something happen while you were fishing?"

"I dunno'. Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Well, when I was setting up my hook Papa told me to be careful, but..."

"But what?"

"He didn't call me Henry. He called me 'Cole'."

"...Cole?" Connor repeated the name as his heart skipped a beat.

"And then he got really quiet for a while."

"Oh. I see."

"I don't know why Papa got so weird after he called me by my middle name. It's not a big deal."

"...Did you talk about anything else before you came back?"

"Yeah. Mostly sports and how I want to try out for the basketball team next year. And Sumo. And what it's like to be a cop."

"Okay, good. I'm glad you two kept talking." Placing the tacklebox and fishing poles on the small back porch and up against the cabin's exterior wall Connor turned to look his son in the eyes. "Henry, I think we need to talk."

"What about? Am I in trouble?"

"No, no! You didn't do anything wrong, son. It's just... complicated."

"Uh... doesn't 'complicated' mean weird?"

"Essentially, yes."

"So Papa was being weird, and now you're saying things are weird." Henry was rather astute and trying to figure things out for himself, but he didn't have any idea what was going on. "What's so weird? My middle name isn't weird, is it?"

"No. And like I said, you're not in trouble. Understand?"

"I guess so."

"Alright. Come with me, we need to have a talk."

"Where are we going?"

"Just over to the bonfire. We don't have to leave the cabin."

"Cool! I like it here!"

Connor just smiled as Henry raced over to the massive, dead log that was sitting on the property just a few feet away from the roaring bonfire and sat down. Sumo was laying on the other side of the fire and promptly trotted over to Henry as soon as the boy called him. Joining his son on the log Connor unsnapped the plastic supports around Henry's life vest and slipped it from around the boy's shoulders and placed it on the grass.

"Henry," Connor began in a calm voice as he prepared to explain things to his young son. "I want you to know you didn't do or say anything wrong, okay?"

"Okay. But, why did Papa get so weird and call me 'Cole'?"

"Because, Henry, you _look_ a lot like Cole."

"I don't get it. ...Who's Cole?"

"Cole is your Papa's other son." Showing Henry the palm of his right hand Connor revealed a photograph of Cole for the boy to see. "This is Cole when he was about your age." A new detail popped into Connor's mind that made him feel a tad guilty. "In fact, it would be his birthday tomorrow..."

Henry was quiet for a moment as he processed what Connor had just told him. "I thought you and Uncle Luke were Papa's kids."

"We are. But before either myself or your Uncle Luke had even met your Papa, he had another son named Cole."

"...I still don't get it. Where is Cole and how come you and Uncle Luke never talk about him?"

"Because," gently putting his hand to Henry's shoulder Connor told him the sad story with a heavy heart. "about fourteen years ago your Papa and your Uncle Cole were in a very bad car accident, and they were both hurt in the accident. Your Papa hurt his ribs but he got better. But your Uncle Cole was hurt so badly that the doctors couldn't make him better. He passed away and your Papa was very, very sad for a long time. And he still gets sad sometimes when he thinks about Cole, because he misses him so much."

"Uncle Cole went to Heaven?"

"Yes, he's with your Grandma Barbara and your-" It was still hard for Connor to talk about Skye, and he didn't want to tell Henry that he'd never meet his mother. Not yet. Instead he quickly changed the subject. "and because you look like Cole your Papa accidentally called you by his name."

"Did I make him sad?"

"No, Henry. The _memory of losing_ Cole made him sad."

"Is that why my middle name is Cole?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Why'd you do that?"

"The same reason I picked your first name. Do you know why I chose your first name?"

"No."

"I picked the name 'Henry' because that's your Papa's first name. I named you after him to honor your Papa because he's a great father and a great man. And I picked the name 'Cole' to honor your Uncle Cole in memory."

"Oh. What was Uncle Cole like?"

"I... I don't know. Your Papa told me a few things about him, but he'd get really sad after talking about him and didn't want to talk anymore. But, I do know Papa loved him very much, just like he loves you."

"You said Uncle Cole died before you and Uncle Luke met Papa. How did you meet your own dad?"

"...Henry, your Uncle Luke and I were adopted by your Papa. We don't have the same blood as your Papa, but we're family all the same. He cared about us and we care about him."

"Adopted?"

"Yes. That's when a person who needs a family is taken in by a family." Connor explained simply and coolly. "Papa took me in and gave me a family because he wanted to, and because I needed a father to guide me through my life. And your Uncle Luke and I had been... separated from each for a long time." It wasn't a total lie and much easier to explain to a small child that way. "When we found each other your Papa took him in, too. If it wasn't for him I don't know where I'd be right now, but I do know that I wouldn't have you in my life. And that thought makes me feel sad, too."

"Oh." Henry looked around the bonfire to see where Hank was, but he was still inside the cabin. "But, everyone always say I look like you."

"That's right."

"And I look like Uncle Cole?"

"That's also right."

"So does that mean you look like Uncle Cole?"

That question was a little unexpected, and Connor wasn't quite sure how to answer. "I... I suppose that's true as well. I hadn't thought about it like that before, but it makes sense."

Henry kept looking around trying to see where Hank was, but the emotionally distressed man was nowhere to be seen. "Where is Papa?"

"His back was hurting him a little," the white-lie wasn't entirely untrue either. "so he went to lay down for a while. He'll be back outside in a few hours."

"Okay."

"Want to help me with dinner?"

"Can Sumo come with us?"

"Of course." Connor stood up from the log and walked toward the cabin with Henry right beside him. Sumo slowly plodded after them with his long tail lightly wagging back and forth. "He can help clean up any messes we make."

The sun had almost set entirely and the bonfire was still as bright and warm as ever. Hank had returned to the bonfire after an hour of being alone and happily joined Henry for dinner. Sumo ate up some of the scraps but for the most part enjoyed resting his aging bones near the warm fire and being close to his family. Connor was tending to the fire while Henry sat beside it petting Sumo much to the dog's delight. Hank himself was sitting with his back to the fire so he could watch the sun set into the darkness as he became lost in melancholy thought.

"I'm going to get more wood for the fire." The deviant stated as he eyed the pile of firewood stacked neatly behind the cabin by the cellar doors. "Don't get too close to the fire, Henry."

"Okay." The happy little boy looked up from Sumo to watch Connor walking toward the cabin, then turned to look at Hank. Standing up from the ground he rushed over to the log and sat down beside Hank curiously. "Papa?"

"Yeah, Henry?" Hank's eyes never left the sunset as he answered the question.

"What was Uncle Cole like?"

Though the question caught Hank offguard the loving grandfather didn't flinch. Looking down at his grandson Hank could've sworn he was looking at Cole himself. With an appreciative grin on his face and tears in his eyes he wrapped his arm around Henry's shoulder and pulled him up against his side, and Henry leaned up against him. As he hugged Henry and watched the last of the sunlight fade away into the night Hank let out a weary sigh and finally answered the question.

"Well, Cole was a lot like you, Henry. _And_ your dad..."

* * *

_**Henry: Eight Years Old.** _

Connor managed to open up as much free space in the livingroom as possible as Henry and his best friend Jason, as well as two other good friends from his basketball team, Robby and Jordon, and of course Aria, spread out their sleeping bags on the floor. It was the first time that Connor had to entertain an entire group of children, but he was up to the challenge and kept texting Hank for advice on the matter.

' _Connor, they're eight_ , _not eighteen_.' Hank reminded him with casually. ' _You don't have to worry so much_.'

"I've sent Henry over to Jason's house four times in the past for a sleepover, but I've never had to host one."

' _It's easy. Give the kids pizza, let them play some games and watch a movie. They'll fall asleep really fast and by morning their parents will come by and pick them all up_. _They'll have a good time and in a few months you'll probably do it again_.'

"I don't think it'll be that easy tonight since Aria is here."

' _Why's that_?'

"The boys are discussing basketball and Aria seems bored. She doesn't enjoy sports as they do."

' _Well if the boys are entertained by themselves, then you should just focus on her. She's your goddaughter after all_. _Hell, she and Henry are kinda' half siblings_. _I mean, I know they have the same biological parents but thanks to Abby, well, yeah_...'

"Yeah, I know. Even if Aria and Henry weren't so indirectly related I'd tend to her all the same."

' _Good_. _Now, stop talking with me and take care of her_.'

"Right. I'll make sure she's having fun."

Slipping his phone into his pocket Connor walked into the livingroom where the four boys were talking about basketball and Aria was sitting on the couch with her stuffed toy cat on her lap. Sitting down beside the little girl Connor spoke to her kindly and decided to see if she wanted to do something fun that didn't revolve around basketball.

"Hi, Aria."

"Hi." Aria was soft spoken and very polite. She had Abby's hair color but Gavin's eyes, and she was very intelligent and kind.

"Do you want to play a game?"

"What kind of game?"

"Any game you want to play."

"Can we play 'makeover'?"

"...What's 'makeover'?"

"I can show you!" Excitedly Aria got off the couch and grabbed her backpack that was sitting on the floor by the television set. "Come with me!"

Obediently Connor walked into the kitchen and followed after Aria as she pulled out some small make-up kits and nail polishes that she had been given by her parents on her birthday last month. Completely unfamiliar with the concept of make-up Connor just sat and watched as Aria got everything set up and grabbed onto his hand.

"Lay your hand flat on the table."

"Alright."

"And now pick a color!"

* * *

Three hours after Connor initially texted Hank he sent his father another text to confirm that everything went alright and that the five kids were all asleep on the livingroom floor pretty happy. Well, the boys were on the floor and Aria was sleeping on the couch since she was the last one to fall asleep and Connor put her there to rest after she started falling asleep at the kitchen table. Draping her sleeping bag over the small girl Connor was convinced she'd be warm and comfortable throughout the night.

After very quietly cleaning up the plates and empty cups from the floor without disturbing the kids Connor made sure they were all comfortable in their sleeping bags and all had pillows. The television was left on at a low volume to keep some form of light at all time for the little kids in case one or more were afraid of the dark, or needed to see their way around the unfamiliar house to get to the bathroom.

A reply text buzzed in Connor's pocket as he went to his own bedroom and kept the door open to keep a close eye on the kids.

' _Sounds like you made sure they all had fun. What'd you do with Aria_?'

"I played a game with her while the boys talked. Then they all watched a movie and fell asleep."

' _See_? _Not a big deal_.'

"Thanks for your help. I'll see you tomorrow."

Connor stayed in a light rest mode to keep tabs on the five children and much to his relief they all stayed asleep throughout the entire night. Once morning came around Connor proceeded to make his way into the kitchen and prepared the five kids breakfast before helping them pack up their things and make sure they had everything they needed before leaving for home.

As the group of kids all sat around the livingroom with plates of pancakes, eggs and juice Connor received texts from the other parents letting him know that they'd be stopping by within the hour to get their kids. Unsurprisingly Abby was the first to show up since she and Gavin were going to head out of the city for a weekend away and have a small family vacation with Aria.

As Connor answered the door the sweet little girl rushed over her mom with her backpack and stuffed kitty in her hands. "Hi mom!"

"Hi Aria! Did you have fun?"

"Yeah!" She smiled brightly as she told her mom about playing a game with Connor. "I got to play 'makeover'."

Abby gave Connor a curious glance as she picked Abby up and held her on her hip. "'Makeover', huh?"

Connor blushed a little held up his hand to show Abby that he allowed Aria to paint his fingernails emerald green. "...It'll wash off."

"Don't worry, Connor." Abby laughed discreetly at the nail polish. "You're not the first guy she's talked into playing 'makeover' with her." She leaned a little bit closer and whispered to the deviant to keep the four little boys from hearing her. "Gavin's toenails are purple."

Connor smirked as Abby thanked him, took her leave of the house and carried Abby out to the car where Gavin was waiting behind the steering wheel.

"Bye, Abby. Bye, Aria."

"Bye!" Aria waved happily to Connor as she shouted back to him before being placed in the backseat of the car by Abby.

Shortly thereafter the rest of the kids were collected by their parents and Henry helped his dad clean up the livingroom and put the furniture back in place. As the little boy picked up the plates and cups to put in the kitchen sink Hank walked in through the backdoor and greeted Henry as Sumo walked in beside him.

"Good morning, Henry."

"Hi, Papa. Hi Sumo."

"Have fun last night?"

"Yeah!" Sumo trotted up to Henry and began licking sticky syrup from his fingers making Henry laugh. "We're going to win all our basketball games this year!"

"I wouldn't doubt it for a minute."

Connor joined Hank and Henry in the kitchen and promptly rubbed Sumo's ears as he offered Hank something to eat. "Want some breakfast? I believe I made too much even for five people."

"Yeah, sure. Then I want to-" Hank spotted the green on Connor's nails and grabbed his hand. Admiring the shining color over Connor's fingernails he just gave the deviant an amused smirk. "Uh, son, are you trying a new look?"

"...Aria." Connor blushed bright blue as he took his hand back from Hank's grip. "It was her idea."

"Oh. _That_ explains it."

"I'm apparently not the first male that Aria managed to play her 'makeover' game with."

"Gavin?"

Nodding his head Connor placed his hands behind his back still somewhat embarrassed. "Gavin."

Henry saw the green on his dad's fingernails and laughed a little. "It's okay dad, it's better than having purple toenails!"

"Oh..." Connor smirked while Hank withheld a laugh. "I guess Abby didn't whisper as quietly as she thought she did."

* * *

_**Henry: Nine Years Old.** _

It was the final junior league basketball game of the season and Henry's team had won handsomely. Connor and Hank had both been able to watch the game and were very proud of Henry for playing a great game. As the night came to an end and the attending family members all claimed their children from the elementary school gymnasium, Connor met with Henry outside the gym and walked with his son toward the parking lot where Hank was already waiting for them by the car.

"Great game, Henry."

"Thanks, dad."

"I guess you'll have to settle for playing basketball at home until the next season starts."

"That's cool. As long as I don't have to run sprints!"

"Only if you want to."

Henry was walking with his basketball tucked under his arm and unusually quiet, especially since his team had just won. Connor just chalked it up to him being tired after a long game and didn't try to force a conversation.

"When we get home you can shower off and I can drop you off at Jason's house so you can go have pizza with your friends."

"That's okay, I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure? You didn't eat much this morning."

"Yeah."

"Are you alright?" Connor asked as he and Henry made it to the car and pulled open the door. Pushing the driver's seat forward Connor let Henry climb into the backseat before climbing in himself. "You act like you don't feel well."

"I'm just tired." Henry replied firmly as he took his seat and fastened his seatbelt. "Can Jason come over tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow's Saturday so if it's okay with his mom he can come over." Adjusting the rearview mirror Connor looked at Henry's reflection and his mouth twitched a little as he turned over the engine. "Do you have a headache?"

"...Not really. I'm just tired, dad."

Hank sensed there was something wrong with Henry, too. But just like Connor he knew Henry wouldn't admit it if he was feeling sick unless he was really suffering. "Well, you'll feel better after you sit down for a while." Giving Connor a knowing glance Hank tagged on another thought. "Maybe you can hang out with Sumo on the couch again?"

Henry didn't respond to the offer which sent up red flags for both Connor and Hank.

"We'll be home in a few minutes, son." Connor had begun to speak more like Hank as Henry grew up, not that either of them were surprised. "Then you can pass out in front of the television or with a book."

Once home with Connor, having shown no interest in playing with Sumo, Henry was still acting as though he didn't feel well. After taking his shower he changed into a pair of black sweatpants and a dark blue t-shirt before laying down on his side over the black leather couch in front of the television. As his eyes drifted shut Connor very discreetly put his hand over Henry's forehead and ran a scan over his son to ensure he was really okay.

Henry felt like he was running a mild fever, and his entire demeanor spoke volumes of illness.

Ever attentive Connor took the dark blue quilt from the back of the couch and draped it over Henry's sleeping form to make sure he was comfortable. Sitting down on the second smaller couch adjacent to where Henry was laying Connor continued to monitor him from where he sat. Henry was very pale and seemed exhausted beyond that of just playing in a basketball game. Connor knew something was wrong, something oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

As it neared ten in the evening Connor detected that Henry's fever was beginning to rise and knew he was much sicker than he was going to admit. Before he had the chance stand up and walk over to his son Henry suddenly awoke and began to whimper in pain.

"Henry?"

"...My stomach hurts." As Henry slowly sat upright on the couch he wrapped both of his arms around his stomach and began to cry in pain.

Connor's hand returned to Henry's forehead and noted his temperature at one-hundred and one point eight degrees, and climbing.

"Henry, I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No!" The scared, pained child called out loudly. "I don't wanna' go!"

"You have to, you're very sick." Scooping Henry up and into his arms Connor made his way outside the house and next to door to where Hank still lived. Opening the front door he called out to Hank for help. "Dad?"

"Connor?" Hank was still awake and reading in bed when the deviant walked inside. Making his way down the hallway as quickly as he could he saw Henry curled up around himself in Connor's arms, and his eyes went wide. "What's going on?"

"I need to take Henry to the hospital; St. Vevila. He's burning up and in a lot of pain."

"A-Alright, I'll drive." Hank grabbed the car keys from the bookshelf, slipped on his shoes and grabbed his dark overcoat by the door. Forcing himself to remain as calm as possible he took charge of the situation. "Come on, let's go."

While Hank drove the Oldsmobile to the hospital Connor sat in the backseat with Henry still being held in his arms and up against his chest. Henry was trying to curl around himself as much as possible as the pain in his stomach continued to escalate, and he was getting paler by the second. Connor was very lightly running his hand over Henry's hair to comfort him while also keeping tabs on his fever.

Cybernetically Connor made contact with the hospital to inform the android receptionist of their impending arrival, and of Henry's medical history for a more efficient examination.

"You're going to be okay, Henry." The deviant father promised his sick son.

"It hurts!"

"I know it does. We're going to get you to a doctor and make it stop."

Pulling into the emergency entrance area of the parking lot Hank watched as Connor opened up the door and carried Henry inside for treatment. He hated to let them go inside without him, but he couldn't abandon the car out front. As a former first responder himself he knew the frustration of emergency crews having to deal with an abandoned vehicle in front of a hospital, and forced himself to drive off to park elsewhere.

Passing through the main lobby of the hospital Connor carried Henry up to the receptionist desk and was promptly greeted by Dr. Wilson who took Henry from Connor's arms and placed him down on a nearby gurney.

"It's okay, Connor." Dr. Wilson reassured the worrying father as took charge of Henry's care. The doctor had gotten word of the incoming patient and quickly volunteered to oversee the treatment, with a nurse already at his side. "We'll take good care of Henry."

"I-I know."

"Henry?" Dr. Wilson spoke to the frightened child as he pressed his palm over Henry's forehead for himself to gauge his fever. "My name is Dr. Wilson. I'm here to help you, don't be afraid."

The gurney was attended to by two orderlies who began wheeling Henry away from the receptionist area and toward an emergency exam room. Connor walked alongside his son and remained at his side while Dr. Wilson gave him a quick examination and determined that the most likely cause to Henry's sickness was appendicitis.

"Henry," Dr. Wilson carefully lifted up the boy's t-shirt to reveal his abdomen before he lightly wrapped his fingers around Henry's wrist to count his pulse. "I'm going to press on your stomach, if it hurts let me know and I'll stop."

Henry looked to Connor as if needing reassurance. Connor nodded and grabbed onto Henry's hand to let him squeeze in case the pain made him wince or scream out.

Lightly Dr. Wilson checked Henry's abdomen by palpating the lower right quadrant with his fingers. As he neared the inevitable 'hotspot' Henry let out a yelp of pain and squeezed Connor's hand as he tried to roll on his side away from Dr. Wilson.

"I'm sorry, I won't touch it again." Dr. Wilson promised as he put his hand on Henry's shoulder. Glancing up at Connor the doctor communicated the bleak news that Connor was already expecting. "He'll need an M.R.I. to confirm the diagnosis, but I'm already certain he'll need surgery."

Henry's pale face went even paler at the word 'surgery' and his hand tightened around Connor's even more. "I don't want surgery!"

Connor reciprocated the squeeze and ran his other hand through Henry's hair again. "I'm sorry, Henry. But it's the only way to help you feel better."

"No!"

Dr. Wilson made a note in Henry's electronic chart and motioned for the nurse who had accompanied him to give the two a moment of privacy.

"It's okay to be scared, Henry. But you need-"

"No!"

Hank had made his way to the receptionist area and showed his badge to the android receptionist, and informed him of his grandson being admitted. She happily directed him back to the examination room and allowed him to go about freely. He had bumped into Dr. Wilson just seconds ago and had informed Hank of Henry's probable condition.

"Henry?" Hank saw that Henry was terrified and wanted to do everything he could to help him feel better. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want surgery!"

Connor silently mouthed the word 'appendix' to Hank, who quickly figured everything out.

"You'll be okay." Hank encouraged as he stood on the opposite side of the gurney from Connor and pulled up his shirt a little. "See that scar? I had surgery to have my appendix taken out, too. And I'm okay."

"A scar? I don't want a scar!"

Connor reacted quickly and did the same thing Hank did. "I had the same thing happen to me, Henry." Lifting up his own shirt he pointed to where his analysis filter, his 'android-appendix' had been inside his abdomen when it failed. "I didn't end up with a scar because I was younger than your Papa when I had my surgery. You won't have a scar either, and you'll be okay just like we are."

Henry was still terrified but no one could blame him. Being in a hospital as a child was scary enough, but needing surgery was even worse!

"Henry," Connor kept his voice low and calm as he knelt down beside the gurney and locked eyes with his son. "everything will be alright. Dr. Wilson is going to take you to get a test done and make sure it's really your appendix making you sick. And if that's the case then you'll have to have surgery. But you'll be asleep the whole time and won't feel anything. No pain at all."

"...Really?"

"Yes, really." Connor promised as he continued to run his hand through Henry's hair. "And when you wake up both me and Papa will be right here waiting for you."

Dr. Wilson and the nurse returned to the exam room and shook Hank's hand as he addressed Connor. "They're ready for Henry upstairs. If it's his appendix he'll need to be taken into surgery A.S.A.P. to have it removed. Do we your consent?"

"Y-Yeah. Of course."

The nurse handed Connor the electronic tablet containing the official documents to be signed. With a somewhat shaking hand Connor signed his name and handed the document back to the nurse.

"Henry," Connor stood up from the floor and planted a kiss on Henry's too warm forehead. "you're going to be alright. I promise."

Henry only nodded as the safety rails on the side of the gurney were lifted up and locked into place by Dr. Wilson and the nurse. As Henry was slowly wheeled out of the room and down the corridor to the elevator out of sight Connor let out a heavy sigh and pressed the heels of his palms to his face in worried frustration.

"Hey, hey..." Hank grabbed onto Connor's shoulder to lead him out of the exam room and back to the waiting room. "Come on, son."

"I hate this."

"That's exactly how I felt when you had to have your filter-thing removed."

"Henry isn't an android. He's a human, he's... fragile. And still so small."

The fear in Connor's voice reflected Hank's own fear from the night Cole had died when he needed surgery. Cole had suffered internal trauma, whereas Henry only had an inflamed appendix. An appendectomy was a rather routine procedure in the hospital, and Dr. Wilson was a skilled doctor. He helped Connor when he was sick, so Hank was confident that he'd be able to help Henry, too.

"Connor, Henry is one strong little boy. He's just like his father."

"That doesn't make it any easier to accept."

"Sit down with me, son. Breathe."

Hank guided Connor to one of the vacant seats in the waiting room and sat down next to him. Keeping one hand on Connor's shoulder Hank encouraged Connor to breathe slowly and to calm his mind. As the deviant sat idle in the chair his right hand for his pocket and he pulled out his old coin. As he nervously danced it over his knuckles Hank saw the quarter and just shook his head.

"It's been years since I've seen you mess around with that thing."

"My hands had been rather full the past nine years."

"Yeah, I get that." Sitting back in his own chair Hank crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "Henry will be fine, son. You just need to sit and wait."

"I dislike being unable to help him."

"You did help him. You knew he was sick, and you knew he needed to go to the hospital. A lot of parents would either 'wait and see' what happens, or panic. You did real good, son."

"I just hope it was good enough."

Three painfully slow hours passed with Connor now pacing about the waiting room with his coin dancing over his hand and Hank lightly dozing in the chair. Very few people were left in the waiting room and it seemed only Connor and Hank were left somewhat conscious as it neared one in the morning. Just as the pacing deviant crossed the room for the fifty-second time Dr. Wilson returned to speak with him, a confident smile of relief on his face.

Connor stopped short and looked to Dr. Wilson without saying a word.

"Henry's just fine, Connor. He's in his own recovery room and just waking up from anesthesia."

Lowering his hand, his coin finally come to a stop, Connor gave the doctor a pleading sigh. "Can I see him?"

"Sure, but only for a few minutes."

"Yeah, of course." As he pocketed his coin he turned to look back at Hank where he was still sitting in the chair. "Did you want to see Henry, too?"

"I'll see him the morning. He's going to be too drowsy from the anesthesia to really talk anyway."

"Right. I'll let him know you'll see him in the morning."

Connor was shown to Henry's room where he was drifting in and out of awareness as a nurse kept an eye on him. The small boy had a nasal cannula under his nose as the additional oxygen would help flush the remaining anesthetic from his system and help with his overall recovery. A small plastic clip was attached to his left middle finger to keep tabs on his vitals on the muted monitor beside the bed.

Very lightly Connor wrapped his hand around Henry's right arm and whispered to him. "Henry? Henry, it's dad."

Henry's blue eyes began to flutter a little as he recognized Connor's voice. "...Dad?"

"Right here. How do you feel?"

"Kinda'... numb."

"That'll fade in time. Do you remember what's going on and where you are?"

"I got sick. ...I'm in a hospital."

"That's right. You're going to stay the night here and I'll take you home tomorrow, okay?"

"...Are you gonna' go?"

"No, son. I'll be here all night, same with Papa." Giving Henry's forehead another kiss Connor made it known he wasn't going anywhere. "If you need me to do so I'll go buy a sleeping bag and sleep on the floor next to you."

"Thanks, dad."

The nurse just looked at Connor and smiled as he stayed with Henry and proceeded to run his hand through Henry's hair again. Taking a chair from the far wall she placed it beside the bed for Connor to use as he stayed beside Henry for the rest of the night.

"Get some more sleep. You'll feel much better in the morning, son."

True to his word Connor stayed beside his healing son's bedside well until dawn, and never once left the room.

As morning came Henry's incision was examined and he was given the all clear to go home to rest, and take antibiotics to stave off infection. Since his incision was still healing Henry was allowed to skip the following entire week of school, which of course meant he got a little spoiled by both dad and grandpa. A few 'Get Well Soon' gifts were delivered to Henry by Markus from New Jericho. and he brought Henry a few spare canvases, various paintbrushes, oil paints and a wooden paint pallet for him to mess with while he healed.

"This is all for you Henry." Markus smiled as he gave the little boy all the gifts. "Enjoy!"

"Thanks Markus!"

The deviant leader had essentially taken an honorary role as an additional Uncle since Luke still lived in Boston, and loved every second of it. More than happy to give Henry piano lessons at the house whenever he could spare the time, and Markus had become pretty attached to the little boy.

"I'm glad you're feeling better. When you're ready I'll give you some extra piano lessons."

"Cool! Can you teach me how to play piano and play the guitar at the same time?"

"Uh... Maybe you can play the piano with one hand and strum with the other. But you're going to have to ask your dad about the guitar."

"That'd be so cool."

Connor stepped into the livingroom to check in on Henry who was laying stretched out over the length of the leather sofa. Having called off work to take care of Henry for the first forty-eight hours of his recovery, then Hank would take over for the remainder of the recovery, Connor was constantly checking in on his healing son. "Hey, Henry. How do you feel?"

"Okay, I guess. I kinda' feel like I have a big bruise in my side, or like I ran too much."

"That's how I felt after my 'surgery'."

"Look what Markus got for me!" Henry proudly held up the newly acquired art supplies and smiled. "What do you think?"

"I think that's perfect for you." Connor approved of the gift and was very appreciative of Markus's generosity. "Thank you, Markus."

"No problem. Do you need anything? I don't mind."

"Thanks again, but we're good. Hank went out to grab a few things for Henry and will back soon. You're free to hang out with us though."

"Sure! It'd be nice to get away from work for a while." Glancing down at Henry with a grin Markus asked for his approval. "Do you mind?"

"No! Show me how to paint!"

"Alright, no problem."

As Markus sat down on the couch next to Henry to show him the proper method for using oil-based paints and the different types of brushes he had been given Connor took the opportunity to make Henry a light lunch.

"Think you can eat something?"

"I think so."

"Alright. I'll go make you some soup, and then you can have a little ice cream after."

Henry smiled at the idea of being able to have ice cream for lunch. While Markus just grinned at the very human and compassionate mannerisms that Connor had developed after Henry had been born. It was strange to know Connor first as 'The Deviant Hunter', then an ally who infiltrated a high security tower to free their people, help lead a revolution, help establish android rights and fight back against discrimination; now acting as one of the most attentive, loving parents in all of the city.

"Here's a trick to oil-painting, Henry." Markus held up the tube of white paint and put a small portion on the first canvas. "If you put a white base down and leave it wet, the paint will blend much easier..."

* * *

_**Henry: Ten Years Old.** _

It was a cold winter morning and Hank was walking about slowly through the kitchen as he prepared a fresh, brewing pot of coffee for himself. Sumo was laying down on his side on the giant pillow in the corner of the livingroom with an old, worn-out red and white plaid blanket wrapped all around his arthritic body. It was about two weeks until Christmas and Hank was trying to put together his 'to-do' list at the kitchen table when his phone started buzzing right beside his hand.

Picking up the phone, recognizing the number instantly as Connor, Hank answered and continued on with his list. "Hey, son. What's going on?"

' _Papa_?' It was Henry's voice on the line, not Connor's.

"Henry! Hey, bud."

' _Papa, I think something's wrong with dad_.'

"What?" Standing up from the table he turned off the coffee pot and made his way to the livingroom to grab his shoes and his thick coat from beside the front door. "What's wrong with your dad?"

' _I think he's sick_.'

"What makes you think that, Henry?"

' _He won't wake up_.'

"Where is he?" Opening the front door Hank made his way over to the house next door and continued to talk to his grandson over the phone. "Keeping talking to me, Henry. Where's your dad?"

' _Dad's in his bed_.'

"Okay. Are you with him?"

' _Uh-huh_.'

"Put your hand on his forehead for me. How does his skin feel?"

There was a brief pause before Henry answered. ' _Hot. And he's sweating_.'

"Okay, son. I'm outside the front door right now. I'll be inside in a few seconds." Unwilling to hang up the phone until he was by Connor and Henry's sides Hank entered the house and made his way down the hallway and into the master bedroom at the very end of the hall. "Henry? Connor?"

"Papa." Henry hung up the phone and stared as Hank entered the bedroom and hung up his own phone. "Is dad sick?"

"We're about to find out." Hank stood over the bed and looked down at Connor's alarmingly pale, sweaty face with a masked worry. Not only was Connor's complexion pale, but he had dark bags under his eyes, his cheeks were pale blue with flush, and his sweaty hair was clinging to his forehead. Gently Hank placed his hand over Connor's forehead, confirming the fever, and used his thumb to lightly lift up Connor's eyelids to check his glassy pupils. "Yeah, Henry. It looks like your dad is sick."

"Does he need to go to the hospital like I did last year?"

"I hope not." Sitting down on the edge of the bed Hank pulled back the quilt from Connor's upper chest to try to help him cool off a little as he picked up Connor's right wrist to count his pulse. "But he will need us to help take care of him."

"Papa," he noticed that Hank was pressing his fingers around Connor's wrist and pressing his other palm down against the deviant's chest. "why are you holding onto dad's hand?"

"I'm checking his pulse."

"Pulse?"

"It's a way for me to count his heartbeat."

"Why are you doing that?"

"Because I can figure out exactly how sick he is by counting his pulse. He's going to be alright though, understand?"

Henry didn't look convinced and remained worried where he stood. "...Okay."

"Connor?" Hank gently shook Connor by the shoulder as he spoke his name. "Come on, son. Wake up for me."

Slowly Connor's dark brown, soulful but glassy, eyes opened and focused on Hank's face as he leaned over him. "...Dad."

"Hey, son. How do you feel?"

"...Hot."

"Yeah, you're definitely running a fever. Looks like you got the flu again."

"...Where's Henry?"

Hank pointed at the scared boy standing beside the bed. "He's right here."

Connor turned his head a little against the pillow and looked at Henry who was waiting for his dad to say something to him. "Hey, Henry."

"Hi, dad. Papa says you're sick."

"...Yeah. I guess I am."

"I didn't know androids could get sick."

"We can." Connor confirmed with a slightly amused lilt to his voice. "I've been sick before, so has Markus. It's not too different from when a human gets sick, which means I will get better, too."

"How did you get sick? Germs?"

"No." Connor was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, he was incredibly tired and fighting to remain conscious for Henry's sake. "Androids get sick from software glitches or viruses, but I've always been vulnerable to the cold. And this time I got sick from the cold because I wasn't wearing a thick enough coat when I went out on a case last night."

Letting out a weak and unexpected cough Connor looked and sounded as terrible as he felt.

"Lay back and sleep." Hank urged as he kept his hand on Connor's shoulder. Returning his hand to Connor's forehead, brushing away the rogue lock of hair in the process, he tried to gauge his fever. "How's your temperature?"

"...One-hundred and two point four degrees."

"Yup. You're sick. You sleep and I'll take care of you, AND Henry."

"No, I'm fine. I just need-"

"Connor. Sleep." Glancing over to Henry, who was still a little scared but staying brave for his dad's sake, Hank nodded at him subtly. "Henry, could you go get some ice packs out of the freezer and bring them in here, please?"

"Okay. I'll be right back, dad!"

As Henry left the bedroom Connor let out a gasping sigh and winced as his chest already ached from coughing, and even a little from breathing.

"Level with me, kid. How bad's your fever? I'll get the thermometer if I have to."

With a look of defeat in his glassy eyes Connor replied honestly. "...It's actually hovering at one-hundred and three point seven."

"Shit, you might actually have to go to a facility for treatment."

"No. I don't want Henry to be worried about me, I can recover here."

"How calm do you think he'd be if you got worse and became unresponsive? He already couldn't wake you up, that's why he called me."

"Please... I'll heal in a few hours. I don't want Henry to ever see me in a facility. It'd terrify him..."

Hank wanted to say something else but Henry returned with the requested ice and handed them over to Hank. Placing a bag of ice over Connor's forehead and a second bag over top his chest the retired detective just sighed and patted the deviant's shoulder. "Alright, get some sleep. I'll take care of Henry so you can rest, son. Stay there and don't try to get up for any reason."

"...Thank you, dad." Connor's eyes drifted shut and he returned to rest mode to allow his self-healing program to initiate at full power. "Henry, be good for Papa while I'm asleep."

"Come on, Henry." Hank kept his voice optimistic as he addressed his still worrying grandson. "Your dad needs to sleep."

"But he's still sick."

"Yeah, but he'll be fine in a few hours. Why don't we go sit in the livingroom so he can sleep?"

"What if he gets worse?"

"That's why we'll check in on him from time to time and make sure he's okay. But he needs to sleep for now."

"...Okay, Papa."

"Come on." Standing up from the bed Hank rubbed his hand along the back of Henry's hair and guided the scared boy out of the bedroom and back into the livingroom. "Before you called I was trying to put together a list of ideas for Christmas. Think you could help me out?"

Connor partially opened his eyes as he watched as Hank escorted Henry out of his bedroom and was all too grateful to have Hank there to take care of Henry during his sickness. Closing his eyes once more Connor swallowed once out of discomfort and pain, and breathed slowly. "...Thanks for everything, dad."

It took Hank a few hours to get Henry to stop worrying so much about Connor, but in time Henry was a lot calmer and helping Hank take care of ideas for Christmas. Sitting in the middle of the couch in the livingroom Henry was helping Hank to take care of his 'to-do' list, while Hank himself was sending a text on his phone without drawing the young boy's attention.

"What do you think, Papa?" Henry showed his grandfather the small list he was writing himself. "Is that okay?"

"Let's see... A new toy for Sumo, you wanna' get your dad another set of guitar strings and guitar picks, and you want to get me a shirt that doesn't have any 'weird patterns' on them..." Hank smirked and playfully nudged Henry's side with elbow. "You trying to say my shirts are ugly?"

"I said 'weird'."

Hank laughed a little at the witty retort and gave him back the list. "Not bad at all Henry. But what do _you_ want?"

"I don't know."

"Sure you do! You love that keyboard you got for Christmas about four years ago, why not ask for a newer one, or maybe a nice case so you can carry it around easier?"

"That's okay. The keyboard is still good and I don't need something new."

The sweetness of Henry's demeanor was almost too much for Hank to bear. "Well, I'll get you something cool no matter what."

"Thanks, Papa."

There was a knock on the front door and Hank patted Henry's shoulder as he got up from the couch to answer it. He knew exactly who it was, but tried to feign innocence as he met with the invited guest. "Hey, Abby. What brings you by?"

"Hi, Hank." She stepped inside the house and her eyes lit up when she saw Henry sitting on the couch. "Hi, Henry!"

"Hi, Abby." The little boy replied politely as he turned to look at her over the back of the couch.

"So, Henry, I was told your dad is sick." She stated calmly as he walked toward the hallway with her technician's satchel prominently slung over her shoulder. "And I want to make sure he gets better as soon as possible. Okay?"

"Okay!" Henry excitedly jumped off the couch and ran down the hallway to check in on Connor. "He's asleep in here!"

Abby happily followed after Henry and Hank joined them shortly afterward. Moving aside the packs of ice Abby sat down on the edge of the bed and listened to the sound of Connor quietly coughing as he slept. With a very gentle touch she placed her hand over his forehead and noted he was still running a fever, but it wasn't as high as she had feared.

"Connor?" She whispered his name and pressed her palm against his chest. The deviant began to stir a little, his head lolling to the left against his pillow and then turned back to face Abby as his eyes opened. "Hi, Connor."

"...Abby?" He coughed again and quieted quickly as she opened up her satchel and put it down on the floor beside the bed. "...What's going on?"

"Well, I got word you weren't feeling well," she subtly tilted her head in Henry's direction as she stood just behind her. "and I figured since I was in the area I'd stop by and see how you're doing."

"...Oh. Thank you."

"Your fever is almost gone, so that's good. How long have you been sick?"

"...I was fine when I came home last night, but my internal alarm failed to awaken me at eight-fifteen this morning. My internal log indicates a failure to initiate the alarm and other basic routine functions at five forty-four this morning."

"So about sixteen hours then."

"Sixteen hours?" Connor lifted his head and looked about curiously. "I've been asleep for that long?"

From the doorway Hank called out to him calmly. "Easy, son. You were out for about eight hours and needed to sleep, and I already told you that I'd take care of Henry. Relax."

Abby took out her audioscope and after she put the earbuds into place she pressed the bell to Connor's chest over top his sweaty black t-shirt. "Take a deep breath." Obediently Connor breathed and waited for Abby to finish listening to his ventilation biocomponents before listening to his heartbeat. "It sounds like you're already making excellent progress in your recovery. Does it hurt to breathe?"

"Not anymore."

"Even better. You should be fine in the next two hours."

"See, Henry?" Connor flashed his son a sincere smirk before his eyes slipped shut, and his words began to slur a little. "I told you that I'm going to be okay. Thanks, Abby."

"...Dad?" Henry whispered almost inaudibly as he watched Connor fall asleep again.

"You're welcome, Connor." As Abby began packing up her satchel she noticed Henry staring at Connor and could see he was still worried. It was then an interesting idea came to her mind. "Hey, Henry. Come here."

Curious as to what Abby wanted Henry took a step forward and stood beside her.

"Here." Placing the earbuds of the audioscope in Henry's ears Abby then placed the bell back over Connor's heart. "You hear that?"

"...Uh-huh."

"That's your dad's _heartbeat_." She smiled as Henry began to smile. Connor's eyes opened again and he noticed what Abby was doing in order to comfort Henry, causing him to smirk appreciatively. "He's going to be okay."

Henry nodded his head as he took the earbuds out of his ears and looked over at Connor. "When are you going to be better, dad?"

"...In a few more hours, Henry. Then I'll be able to get back up."

"Papa and me are making Christmas lists. Are you going to make one, too?"

"...Of course. As soon as I'm better I'll join you in the livingroom."

Hank smiled and gave Abby an appreciative nod from the opened doorway. "Hey, Henry. How about some pizza for dinner?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, come on. Let's go place an order and finish those lists."

As the little boy ran out of the room with Hank following after him Connor closed his eyes and let out a somewhat uncomfortable sigh. Connor's brow furrowed with the same, audible discomfort he had waited to admit until after Henry had left.

"Are you hurting and putting on a brave face for Henry?" Abby asked despite already knowing the answer.

"Something like that. Coughing hurts still, no matter how quietly I do it."

"Yeah, I get that."

"I take it Hank texted you to inform you that I had become ill."

"Yeah, he said Henry was worried about you."

A faint smirk appeared on his face as he realized how sweetly empathetic his son was becoming. "I'm okay."

"I know that, and Hank knows that, and soon Henry will know that, too."

"Does Aria get worried whenever you or Gavin become ill?"

"Oh, jeez. When Gavin got the flu three years ago Aria refused to leave his side when she got out of school. It was as cute as it was annoying, since she got herself sick as a result."

"Fortunately, Henry cannot catch the flu from me."

"Get a little more sleep." Abby smiled as she ran her hand over his sweaty hair and slung her satchel over her shoulder. Carefully she replaced the melting ice pack over his forehead to ensure he didn't overheat as he slept. "And then go show your son that you're not going anywhere."

"...What do you think of Henry?"

"I think he couldn't possibly have a better father, Connor. He's wonderful."

* * *

It took Connor only two and half more hours of necessary rest to awaken from his sleep fully healed, and to sit upright on his bed. The sweaty shirt he was wearing clung uncomfortably to his skin, and the ice pack that had returned to his forehead had melted entirely. Moving carefully and quietly he swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood up steadily to ensure he wasn't going to lose his balance and fall.

As he exited his bedroom he glanced down the hallway and saw that Hank was sitting on the couch with Henry at his side, and that Hank had found an old movie for the two of them to watch together. Connor recognized the images on the screen and smirked at the selected movie; 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'. It was a movie that Connor himself had found enjoyable, and was glad Hank was showing him the same film.

Walking into the bathroom Connor peeled off his sweaty t-shirt and his appropriately named gray sweatpants to have a quick shower. As soon as the water was turned on Connor heard a soft knocking on the door and he listened carefully for the voice on the other side.

"Connor?"

"I'm okay, dad." Connor responded quickly as he stepped into the shower. "Just rinsing off."

"Do you need anything?"

"...Maybe some clean clothes."

"Alright, I gotcha' covered."

Connor could sense there was something else on Hank's mind by the tone of his voice, and knew that he just wanted a moment to speak to him alone.

The bathroom door opened and Hank placed a bundle of neatly folded clothes down on the sink. "How do you feel?"

"Better. Just sweaty."

"That's good. Uh, there's something I want to tell you."

Connor made a reach to turn off the water but decided to keep it running to help mask their voices in case Henry could hear them talking. Peering around the dark blue and white shower curtain Connor ran his hand over his wet locks of hair to push them out of his face as he addressed Hank directly. "What's wrong?"

"...It's Sumo."

"...Oh, no." Connor knew what was happening and it made him immediately start hurting. As much as he loved the dog he knew Henry loved Sumo twice as much. "He's going to be thirteen years old this coming spring."

"And I don't think he'll last much longer than that."

"Is he suffering?" Connor's eyes were filling with tears but he didn't shed them as he spoke.

"No, he's not in any pain or sick. But he's slowing down and now he only gets up to eat or go outside. Since it's been so damn cold as of late I've just been putting down newspapers so he doesn't have to go into the snow."

"...Thank you."

"Do you think you can handle what's going to happen with Henry it when... it's time?"

"...Yeah. I know I'll think of something. Just don't say a word to Henry about it. It'll make him sad."

"Don't I know it." Sighing Hank rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and gave his deviant son a reassuring glance. "Alright, well, Henry's still watching the movie and waiting for you to join us to make those lists. My 'to-do' list took a change in theme, but, whatever."

With an appreciative grin Connor acknowledged Hank then resumed his shower. "I'll be out as soon as my shower is over."

"By the way, I'm buying Henry his own guitar for Christmas this year."

"Really? I was going to buy him one as a special gift for his eventual sixteenth birthday."

"Connor, don't you worry about getting him special when he turns sixteen. I've already got something perfect in mind."

"Alright." Connor smirked as he trusted Hank's judgment. "I'll leave that to you. And thank you for everything you've done for me today."

"Hey, no thanks are necessary. You're my son and Henry's my grandson. It's my honor to have a family to take care of all over again."

* * *

_**Henry: Eleven Years Old.** _

Henry was sobbing as he sat on the back deck of Hank's house with Sumo's collar in his hands. The massive, lovable dog had gotten old and had begun to act sickly over the past few weeks. Old age caught up to Sumo and had peacefully taken him as he slept the previous night. While Hank sat with Henry on the back deck with his hand wrapped around the sad little boy's shoulder Connor finished laying Sumo to rest next to his predecessor in the backyard of the property, and respectfully covered the fresh grave.

As much as Hank tried to make Henry feel better, the little boy was still in tears and nothing seemed to help.

After placing the last of the soil over the grave Connor put the shovel aside and placed a massive white stone over the head of the grave and used black paint to neatly write Sumo's name out in memory to the dog. "...Good boy, Sumo."

"Henry, it's okay to cry."

"Sumo was a good dog." He managed between sobs as he held onto Sumo's collar tightly. "Why'd he die, Papa?"

"Well, Sumo was really, really old for a dog." Hank tried to explain as easily as possible. "And he got really sick. It was just his time."

"So now he's just in the ground?"

"No, Henry. Sumo went to Heaven."

"Heaven?"

"That's right. All good people and all good animals get to go to Heaven when they die. He's playing with the Sumo who was here before him, so he's okay, son. And he isn't sick anymore either."

"When I got sick the doctors made me better. Why couldn't Sumo get better?"

"Because Sumo was much, much sicker than you were. And because Sumo was also much older. He was thirteen years old by human math, but for a dog he was really _eighty-two_ years old. That's about five years more than how long a human is supposed to live, so you know Sumo had a very good life. And he stayed with us for so long because he wanted to stay with YOU. You gave him lots of love and he wanted to stay with you forever. But sometimes forever is just too long, even for the most loyal dog."

Connor replaced the shovel in the garage and wiped off his hands as he rejoined his son and father at the deck. Sitting on Henry's other side Connor pulled Henry up against his side for a hug. "Henry, Sumo knew you loved him. And he loved you, so it's okay to cry over him."

Staying with Henry until he finally began to quiet a little Hank sighed and gave Connor a shrugging glance.

Connor understood what he was asking, but decided that getting Henry another dog so soon wouldn't be the right course. When Connor had adopted Sumo as a puppy the day after his predecessor died it was an unexpected and chance encounter. The odds of them being able to find 'another Sumo' was unlikely, and even so Henry still needed to grieve over the dog he had lost.

"Do you want to go inside or stay out here a while longer?" Connor asked in a low voice as he kept his arm wrapped around Henry's shoulder.

"I don't want to go..."

"Okay, you don't have to if you don't want to."

Henry was staring at Sumo's name on the white stone and wiped tears away from his eyes. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Sumo's in Heaven, right?"

"That's right."

"Does that mean I'll see him again someday?"

"Yes, Henry. You will."

It took some coaxing and patience but Connor and Hank were able to convince Henry to get up from the back deck and walk through the backdoor back to the kitchen. While Hank sat with Henry at the kitchen table Connor made Henry a light lunch of a sandwich and some potato chips, but Henry didn't eat much. He was still too upset to eat.

"Come on, Henry." Connor put his hand to Henry's shoulder. "Let's go for a walk."

"I don't want to go anywhere."

"Well, I do." He looked over to Hank for a little back-up and Hank was quick to oblige.

"Me too. How about the park?"

"Sounds perfect."

Despite Henry's reluctance Connor managed to get his son to finally leave the house and walk with him to the park a few blocks away. Hank of course walked with him and studied Henry's sad face with a heavy heart. It was the first time Henry had to face death, and even though he was very mature for his age and intelligent, it still didn't make it any easier for the innocent child to process.

The park was full of laughing kids and their parents or babysitters, but Henry wasn't in the mood to play. Henry was still holding onto Sumo's collar and kept staring at the ground beneath his feet. Just as it seemed like Henry was going to have another breakdown and start crying again a group of kids gathered around a large cardboard box near the entrance to the park as a young couple placed it on the ground. The sound of squeaking and mewing filled the air which caught Henry's ear.

Connor stood behind Henry and looked at the box in the distance. "It sounds like someone has a litter of kittens."

Hank turned to give Connor a strange glance as if he was trying to read the deviant's mind.

"They must be at least six weeks old. I guess that means the kittens are ready to find a new home." Putting his hand to the middle of Henry's back between his shoulder blades Connor tried to get him to take a closer look. "Do you want to go see?" Henry looked up at Connor as if needing to confirm what his own dad had just told him. "You don't have to play with them or anything, but I know I'd like to see them. I wonder if they have a small golden tabby like Aria's cat."

Henry had played with that cat a few times when he and Aria had play dates when they were smaller. "You mean Lucky?"

"Yeah."

Hank wasn't thrilled with the idea but he went along with it. "You know, when I was a kid I had a cat named Smoke. He was solid gray and had long fur."

"That'd be interesting if one of the kittens look like either Lucky or Smoke." Connor pressed as he gently coaxed Henry into taking a step forward. "We should see them soon, it looks like the kittens are already being adopted."

Henry wiped his arm under his nose as he sniffled again but finally began walking toward the cardboard box. Connor and Hank walked right behind him and watched as he edged closer to the box and saw the four remaining kittens inside. As they jumped about and squeaked and playfully pawed at the hands of the other kids gently picking them up Henry began to laugh.

Connor stayed with Henry while Hank spoke to the tallest husband that was the couple who brought over the box. "These little guys are what six, seven weeks old?"

"Yeah," the nice man confirmed with a smile as the kids and their parents gathered around the box. "they hit their six week mark two days ago."

"Hard to believe they were born just a month and half ago, and now they're ready for a new home."

The man saw that Henry was upset about something, then saw the dog collar still in his hand. Catching on quick he helped with trying to make Henry feel better. "Yeah, these little guys had to be bottle-fed by me and my husband after their mama got out into the road. She's gone but her babies are still are here as a beautiful reminder that no matter how bleak life gets, life itself still goes on."

Connor nodded appreciatively as he patted Henry's shoulder.

Too hesitant to play with the kittens Henry just watched as the last of the litter were picked up and taken by their new owners to their new homes.

"Ready to go home, Henry?"

Nodding quietly Henry was ready to leave and go back to crying at home.

"Come on, then."

Taking a slightly more creative route back to the house Connor intentionally took Henry past the humane society where he had adopted Sumo thirteen years prior. Giving Hank a silent confirmation Connor patted Henry's shoulder again and directed him inside the building.

"What're we doing here?" Henry asked as soon as he realized where they were.

"None of those kittens back in the park looked like Lucky or Smoke. I wanted to see if there were any other kittens here who did."

"I know what you're doing, dad."

Connor instinctively tried to feign innocence. "What am I doing?"

"You're trying to make me forget about Sumo!"

"No, Henry. I'm trying to make you feel better." Putting both hands on Henry's shoulders as the boy crossed his arms defensively over his chest Connor tried to ease his son's mind. "You'll never forget about Sumo, and you never should."

Hank spoke up and defended Connor's attempts to cheer Henry up. "He's right. Like I said, I had a cat named Smoke when I was kid. That was a long time ago Henry, but I still remember him."

The volunteer behind the desk saw the small family and overheard the conversation. As soon as she saw Henry holding onto Sumo's collar she smiled and motioned to the door leading to the kennels in the back. "If you're interested we actually had a couple litters of kittens dropped off this morning. They've been needing some attention all day long."

"...No." Henry stubbornly refused.

"Well, _I_ want to see them." Connor took a step toward the door and Hank followed after him. "You can stay out here and look at the flea shampoo and pet food if you want."

Realizing that he was outnumbered Henry followed after his dad and grandfather and let them take him to see the other animals.

At least twenty kittens were running about in the large kennels as they played and squeaked loudly. It didn't take long for Connor to spot a golden kitten in the mix of fluff and pointed it out. "See? There is a kitten that looks like Lucky. I knew we'd find one."

Hank pointed out three dark gray kittens and motioned for Henry to follow his direction. "And there's three that look like Smoke."

Out of the mix of various colored furs and squeaks a single kitten began climbing up the side of the kennel and stopped right in front of Henry's face. The little kitten had short mostly gray fur with white markings down its face and its paws, and a bright pink nose. Its eyes were still blue but were beginning to turn gold. As it mewed at Henry a paw reached out toward him, and he lightly ran his finger over it.

"Hey, this kitten has extra toes on its paw!"

Connor and Hank took a closer look and sure enough the little kitten had two extra toes on the sides of its front paws and one additional extra toe on its rear paws.

"That's interesting." Connor observed as he scanned the kitten's paws and saw the extra bones. "I've never seen a kitten like that."

The kitten kept mewing loudly at Henry and reaching for him through the opening of the kennel with its other paw.

"It likes you, Henry."

"...Why?"

"Well, I think it knows you're sad because of Sumo, and I bet its sad because its stuck inside a kennel. It understands what it means to be sad."

The volunteer had been watching from the door and saw the little kitten of interest who was singling Henry out. "Oh, that kitten is special! We've been calling her 'Harley' because she makes a lot of noise like a motorcycle."

Hank laughed and gently ran his finger over her outstretched paw himself. "That's a good name for a tiny kitten. Right, Henry?"

Henry just shook his head as he kept petting the kitten's paw. "She looks more like an 'Opal'."

"Opal, huh? Where's that come from?"

"The white in her fur looks like an opal. We learned about them in geology last week."

"Oh... Well, that's a good name, too."

Connor began rubbing his fingertip under the kitten's chin and got welcomed with a loud, gentle purr for his efforts. "I hope someone gives her a good home."

Henry was still being stubborn about Sumo, but since the kitten chose him he felt an instant connection to the small bundle of fur. "...Can we give her the home?"

A sly smirk appeared on Connor's face as he gave the volunteer a confirming nod over his shoulder. "I suppose we could try. But only if you want to."

Henry started rubbing the kitten's chin as well and got the same affectionate purr as Connor did. "...Only if we call her 'Opal'."

"Alright." Connor was glad to see Henry's heart starting to heal after Sumo's passing. "I think that's acceptable. Opal she is."

* * *

A brand new blue collar with a small bell and golden tag with the name 'Opal' now hung around the newly adopted kitten's neck, and was promptly taken to her new home.

Henry sat on the livingroom floor with Opal balancing on his knee as the little kitten batted her paws at a toy on a string being controlled by Henry's hand. Connor had bought a scratching post cat-tree and placed it by the front window in the livingroom, and a modest selection of cat toys for Opal to play with. After placing her litter box inside the laundry room, now making it a habit to keep the door opened enough to let the kitten inside, Connor placed her new food and water bowls down on the kitchen floor and filled them up.

"Is that all I need for a kitten?" Connor asked as he and Hank watched Henry in the livingroom playing with the kitten.

"Aside from getting her spayed; trust me, cats are much better are getting outside than dogs and you don't want to get attached to a whole new litter of kittens down the line, you got everything covered."

"I think this was the right thing to do. I mean... I just want Henry to feel better."

"Yeah, this was a good idea. You can never replace your first pet, but you can always lessen the pain by giving another animal a chance to be your next best friend."

"All this time I never asked. Where'd you get Sumo?"

"It wasn't planned, but it was meant to be." Hank crossed his arms over his chest and smiled as Opal batted at the toy energetically. "I was working on a bust regarding an illegal puppy mill downtown. There were over sixty pups locked into tiny cages in an old warehouse and it was a pathetic sight. When we kicked down the door and were greeted with frightened puppy whimpers even the most hardened cop was temporarily weakened."

"You rescued Sumo from a puppy mill?"

"Yup. Jeffrey took one of the pups, too. A pitbull he named 'Rex'. Pitbulls get a bad reputation, so he took that puppy to ensure it had a chance to have a good life in a decent home. I took Sumo because he was such a massive breed of dog when fully grown that it'd be hard for him to find a home that could put up with his size."

"What did Barbara say when you brought Sumo home?"

"She asked why I didn't bring home ALL the puppies instead of just one."

Connor smiled at the comment as he watched Henry as he too finally began smiling for the first time that day. The kitten wasn't meant to replace Sumo by any means, she was a reminder that life goes on and no matter how much someone thinks their heart is too broken to feel love for anyone, or anything again, it's untrue. She needed a home and Henry needed someone else to love; they were perfect for each other.

"Like I said," Hank continued in a light tone of voice. "Barbara would've really liked you, kid. You both have a weakness for animals and children in need."

"I'm just glad I could make Henry smile. I don't ever want to see him unhappy."

"You and every other half-decent parent under the sun, Connor."

* * *

Later that night Henry was laying in bed with Opal cuddled up under his chin and purring loudly. The small kitten was a huge change from Sumo, but she was also Henry's kitten. Sumo had been Connor's dog and living with Hank after he moved into the house next door with Henry, but even so Henry bonded quickly with the gentle giant. It seemed like Connor's affection for animals had been passed onto Henry, and the animals in turn loved Henry, too.

Holding onto Sumo's collar for himself Connor took Sumo's name tag from the leather band squeezed it in the center of his palm in a tight grip. "Goodbye, Sumo. You made us all very happy."

With unshed tears in his eyes Connor stood in Henry's opened bedroom doorway and watched as Henry slept peacefully with his newest friend right beside him. Just as Connor's adoption of Sumo had healed his own heart after the original Sumo had died, it seemed that Opal returned the favor with Henry.

"Goodnight, son." Smirking as the kitten roused just enough to snuggle up closer to Henry and settled down once more, Connor addressed her, too in a low whisper. "Goodnight, Opal. Welcome home."

* * *

_**Henry: Twelve Years Old.** _

Scared out of his mind Henry sat in the front passenger seat of the Oldsmobile while Hank drove him to the hospital. Connor had been injured in the line of duty, and had been taken to the hospital for treatment. Despite the Kevlar vest and having plenty of back-up Connor had been injured and required emergency repairs at St. Vevila hospital. It was the first time since Henry had been born that Connor had been injured so severely that he couldn't get patched up at the precinct, or a facility, before heading home to Henry without any worries.

"He'll be just fine, Henry." Hank promised as he watched his grandson nervously fidgeting in his seat beside him. "Your dad's been through a lot worse and walked away just fine."

"Was he shot?"

"...I don't know, Henry. I wasn't told what happened to him, I was just told he's at the hospital."

"Papa, when Sumo died last year, you and dad said he went to Heaven and is playing with the other dogs and is happy."

"That's right."

"Do androids... go to Heaven?"

That was a question that Hank had never though he'd be asked. It was an instant reminder of the night he confronted Connor at the park as they looked out to the Ambassador Bridge stretching out over the Detroit River. It was the same night he had pulled his gun on Connor and threatened to shoot him while in a drunken rage. It was also the first night that Hank had finally begun to see androids as living beings, and saw that Connor himself was actually becoming a deviant; becoming self aware and could feel.

"Henry, androids are alive which means they have souls. Your dad is NOT going to die, but androids can and do go to Heaven eventually."

"What if he _does_ die?"

"He won't. I promise you, your dad is going to be okay!"

Henry nodded a little as he sniffled in fear. As Hank wrapped his arm around the frightened boys shoulders he pulled him up against his side and Henry buried his face against Hank's chest as he forced himself to not cry.

"It's okay to be afraid, Henry." Hank comforted his shaking grandson in a soothing tone. "But don't think the worst is going to happen, okay? Your dad is way too stubborn to go out like this. Trust me, I know from experience."

Henry nodded again, keeping his face buried against Hank's chest in the process.

As the car pulled into the parking lot of the hospital Hank turned off the engine and put his hand to Henry's shoulder. "Hey, look at me."

Lifting his head up Henry stared at Hank and didn't flinch when Hank used his thumb to gently wipe away his tears. The look of Henry's face was hauntingly similar to Cole's, and yet his expressions were as deeply feeling as Connor. Henry had even developed a few stray freckles along his neck and a couple along his face that made him look even more like his father.

"He's going to be fine. Let's go inside and ask about your dad, okay?"

"...Okay."

* * *

Henry had no idea what was happening or who he could possibly talk to while Hank spoke to Dr. Wilson in the hallway. Standing close beside Hank, now tall enough to be eye level with Hank's sternum, Henry just looked around at the numerous nurses, doctors and technicians roaming the halls with various electronic charts in their hands. It was all so surreal and he had no idea what was going on.

"Henry?" Hank spoke softly to his grandson as he put his hand on his shoulder. The gesture was comforting, but Henry could feel Hank's hand trembling on his shoulder despite his best efforts to keep it still. "We can go see your dad for a few minutes, but he needs to be taken care of soon."

"...It's bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It's bad."

Keeping a brave face Henry walked right alongside Hank as Dr. Wilson showed them to the small emergency repair room Connor had been taken to, and had his condition stabilized. The sight of his dad so pale, weak and still made Henry want to cry again, but he refused to do it until he knew one way or another if his dad was going to survive.

Connor was semi-conscious and had a massive bandage over his cheek under his left eye. His eye was also bruised a dark blue and swollen shut. The wounded deviant had been wrapped up in white gauze to apply pressure the bleeding wounds in his upper right chest, middle right chest and his lower right abdomen. Blue blood had begun to seep through the bandages prompting Dr. Wilson to pull a sheet up over the bandages to hide the leaking Thirium from Henry's sight.

Lightly Hank put his hand on Connor's right bicep and held it there for a moment. "Connor?"

Opening his right enough to recognize the faces standing behind him he forced a smile to his face. "...Dad. Henry."

"Hey, son. We're here for you."

"...Thanks for stopping by." As Connor found his voice Henry was still trying to not cry as Connor spoke in a hoarse, weak voice. "...I wore Kevlar, but... the other guy was prepared for that. I couldn't... duck down in time."

"Easy, Connor." Hank could see that the deviant was already losing his strength. "Try to take it easy."

"Henry..." Connor weakly reached out his right hand toward his son and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm going to be okay. It looks worse... than it is. That's why they're... letting me talk to you first. Dr. Wilson has... plenty of time... to get ready."

Henry nodded again as he took hold of Connor's hand and held on for a few minutes.

Hank gave Connor a silent, subtle nod of approval and watched as Dr. Wilson returned to the room and spoke to the deviant.

"Connor," Dr. Wilson addressed his patient calmly and professionally. "we're going to take you up for your repairs now."

"...Okay." Connor gave Henry's hand a gentle squeeze and slipped something into his palm. "I'll see you... when I wake up."

It took him a moment but Henry finally found his voice and responded as confidently as he could. "Okay."

Reluctantly Connor let go of Henry's hand as Dr. Wilson placed his arm back down on the gurney at his side. "...I love you, son."

A team of technicians arrived in the room and proceeded to roll the gurney from the emergency repair room to the elevator. Just three floors up was the emergency repair ward where Connor would have the four bullets extracted from his body; two in his chest and two in his abdomen. In a matter of seconds Connor was gone from sight and rushed into the repair bay for emergency repairs.

Opening the palm of his hand Henry looked down and saw Connor's coin. The very coin that he had held onto for the past sixteen years of his eventful, deviant life. Unable to hold back his tears anymore Henry began to cry and Hank immediately wrapped his arms around the petrified child to hold him in a tight hug.

"It's okay to cry, Henry. Let it out."

Leading Henry to the waiting room Hank did his best to comfort Henry as much as possible as Henry began to calm down a little and stopped crying after finally let out his initial fearful tears.

Hank watched Henry as he stared quietly at the coin in his palm. It had been almost four hours since Connor had been taken away, and it was almost seven in the evening. Henry hadn't eaten anything since noon and Hank knew he had to be getting hungry. Eager for any form of distraction for the young boy Hank tried to slip Henry a twenty-dollar bill and told him where the hospital cafeteria was located.

Henry just shook his head sadly before politely replying. "Thank you, Papa. But I'm not hungry."

"You have to be bored out of your mind." The dullness of Henry's eyes spoke volumes as to how upset he truly was. "There's a bookstore just down the block, how about we go get you something new to read?"

"I don't want to go anywhere."

From across the waiting room Gavin had just arrived at the hospital through the front doors, and spotted Hank and Henry and walked over to the duo. "Hey, Henry. Hey, Cap."

"Not a Captain anymore, Gavin." Hank replied sharply as Gavin joined them in the waiting room. "But thanks."

Henry didn't reply to Gavin, who was now a Lieutenant himself, as he sat down in a vacant chair across from him.

Clearing his throat nervously Gavin spoke to the former Captain calmly. "Do you know what happened yet?" His eyes drifted over to Henry briefly then back to Hank. "Or should I..."

"He knows that Connor was... 'injured in the line of duty'." Hank reluctantly confirmed. "What happened?"

"This morning a report came in revolving around some escaped convicts holding up in a shi- _crappy_ ," Gavin had been trying to swear less around Aria and gave Henry the same courtesy. "apartment down in the industrial district. Turns out the report was legit and we went to investigate."

"Ambushed?"

"No, that's what's weird. Captain Foxworth followed up on the source, knew it was legit, had everyone move in well armed with back-up already on stand by. But these guys were stockpiling illegal firearms and drugs. Their guns were no joke, and their stash was massive."

"You got 'em, right?"

"Yeah... Uh, Connor and Chris were the first to arrive. They checked out the building and Connor picked up on the two huddling inside. He gave the word to Chris and that's when everything just... went crazy. As soon as the shots started both Connor and Chris got down and out of sight, but those guys were packing armor piercing rounds. Chris got his shoulder grazed, but Connor..."

Henry was trying to not cry again as he listened to the story. Hank's hand returned to Henry's shoulder and patted him gently.

"Chris called for back-up to move in, me, Tina, Jack and Foxworth all showed up and pulled them back to safety. As soon as Connor was out of harm's way an ambulance packed him up and got him here as fast as possible. It took us almost three hours to get the guys, but, they won't be a problem anymore. Their weapons are slated to be destroyed along with their stash."

"Good. That's good to know."

"I, uh, would've been here sooner, but..."

"I know. You needed to go see your family first."

"Yeah."

"Do they know what happened?"

"...I told Abby but asked her to keep it quiet from Aria for a while longer. She doesn't need to know if it's... She just doesn't need to know just yet."

Hank understood entirely as he kept his hand on Henry's shoulder. "Thanks for telling us, Gavin."

"You need anything? Coffee or maybe a soda, or something?"

Hank motioned toward Hank discreetly as he rejected the coffee. "I'm good, but playing the waiting game is getting boring."

"Right, got it." Gavin got up from the chair and made his way to the elevator and disappeared from sight.

"...Dad was hurt for doing the right thing." Henry muttered somberly. "It's not fair."

Hank looked over at Henry as he felt the little boy's shoulder tense with emotion frustration as he tried to not cry again. "He was hurt because someone bad tried to stop him from doing the right thing. That bad guy is gone, and your dad is still here. Remember that."

A few minutes passed and Gavin returned conveniently with a can of soda for himself, and decided to get one for Henry. He also grabbed the scared kid a candy bar to try to get him to eat something. "Here, Henry. I pressed the wrong button on the vending machine by mistake," the empathetic detective convincingly lied. "you can have my extra drink. And I didn't see the candy had peanuts in it until after I bought it. I don't like peanuts."

"...Thanks."

Gavin was happy that Henry at least took the snack even if he wasn't interested in actually eating it. It was just unfortunate that he was so scared and worried about his dad. "Hey Henry," Gavin made an effort to try to distract his thoughts. "did, uh, did your dad tell you about the time he punched me in the face?"

Henry looked up and gave Gavin the same furrowed brow stare of confusion that Connor would give whenever he was confused. "...He what?"

"Well, I _deserved_ it. We're cool now, and it happened a long time ago."

"Why'd he punch you?"

"I was being a jerk. And I know that I was being a MAJOR jerk because no one in the precinct felt bad for me after he did it. Not even Tina."

Hank tightened his hand on Henry's shoulder and cleared his throat. "He also saved Gavin's life a couple times, too."

"He did?" Henry's blue eyes were suddenly bright instead of dim as the comment gave his heart renewed faith. "When?"

"Uh... Let's see..." Gavin tried to think back to all those times so many years ago, and remembered the first time Connor saved him. "Uh, there was a suspect who tried to pull a gun on me in interrogation. Connor tackled her and pointed the gun away from me just in time. Then there was the fire at the precinct. He got me out before it was too late."

"A fire?"

"Long story, I don't even remember the details at this point. Then there was the time a lunatic used an aerosolized weapon on the precinct, but it failed and Connor kept me from breathing in any dangerous chemicals. ...And he helped me when I had issues with my diabetes and passed out in the parking lot. He also got me home once when I got sick with the flu and even gave me some medicine before taking off."

Henry was looking a lot more optimistic knowing that his dad had done so much good for people in the precinct.

"But the big one is when I had been the one with the useless Kevlar vest. I took a bullet and Tina was with me. Your dad and your grandpa were close by when I got hurt and they got there before the ambulance. I, uh, lost so much blood that my heart stopped and your dad got it going again. He literally saved my life."

"Yeah," Hank proudly shook Henry's shoulder where he sat. "and not long after that Connor was the one who helped deliver Aria when Abby went into labor."

"Wait..." Henry looked really confused but at the same time happy. "How did dad do that? Shouldn't Abby had been in the hospital?"

"Things happened fast. And Connor was with her because they got to be good friends."

"Dad helped with Aria being born. Is that why Abby was a surrogate for me?"

"Uh..." Neither Hank or Gavin knew how to answer that, but Hank tried his best for Henry's sake. "She was a surrogate because she wanted to help your dad finally have a child of his own. The laws weren't as advanced as they are now. Only two years ago were androids given the right to adopt; through _private_ means rather than openly, but at least it's progress."

"What do you mean, Papa?"

"Well, thirteen years ago, before you were even born, your dad tried and failed to file for adoption. He was turned down for being an android, but they said it was because he was single and had a dangerous job, all that other crap they liked to say to cover up their own discrimination. He was so heartbroken and disappointed for being turned down that Abby was willing to be the first person to carry a child that was a blend of android D.N.A. in a human body so he could finally have a family to take care of. It's weird, I know, but it's the truth."

"...I was a gift?"

"Yup. The best gift your dad ever got. It's a close tie with you saying 'daddy' for the first time on Christmas Day."

Gavin's eyes went wide with shock. "Whoa, so Henry already knows about 'the birds and the bees'?"

Henry blushed a little but Hank answered on his behalf. "He wanted to know, and Connor is a very honest parent. I, unfortunately, had to be the one to fill in some of the other details because of my experience as an actual human. Nothing I couldn't handle, though."

"Yeeahh... I'm definitely going to let Abby be the one to 'talk' to Aria. If I start talking to her about it I'm going to end up arming her with pepper spray and a taser. I might do that anyway... You know, kinda' like an early 'sweet-sixteen' gift."

Hank just shook his head a little as he stayed focused on Henry. Henry himself was beginning to feel a little better, but he was still worried for his dad. Nothing in the world was going to change that. Staring down at the floor Henry fussed with the coin in his hand a little, and actually managed to slowly roll it over the back of his knuckles in the same manner that Connor would do when nervous.

Gavin's phone buzzed in his pocket as he received a message. Swearing internally he read and replied to the message and stood up from the chair. "Foxworth needs me to give another statement. I guess they have a new guy handling the paperwork for an officer down and she's done holding his hand."

"Give 'em Hell, Gavin."

"I'll see you later, keep me posted. Let the 'Tinman' know we're all pulling for him."

As the Lieutenant took his leave of the waiting room Hank took the offered can of soda and popped it open before sliding it toward Henry. "You should drink that and eat that candy bar so you don't starve."

"Papa, why does Gavin always call dad 'Tinman'?"

"He's always called him that. But it's not an insult, it's a nickname."

"It is?"

"Yup. You've seen 'The Wizard of Oz', right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Remember how the Tinman wanted a heart but in the end it turns out he had a heart all along?"

"Yeah."

"Well, same with your dad. He's always had a heart, even when he didn't see it or believe it, it was always there." Pushing the soda a little closer to Henry the ever patient grandfather tried to coax him into drinking it again. "Humor me."

Giving Hank a weak smile Henry took the soda and took a sip of it. The sugary drink didn't feel great on his stomach since he was so worried and hadn't eaten in over seven hours, and was admittedly beginning to feel hungry. Never one to complain or make either his dad or grandfather worry Henry sat quietly and never said anything about being uncomfortable.

As the fourth hour transitioned into its fifth hour Dr. Wilson returned to the waiting room and sat down in the chair across from Hank and Henry.

"Doc?" Hank asked in a low voice causing Henry's eyes snap up from the floor to look at the kind doctor.

"Connor's going to make a full recovery." Dr. Wilson stated with a firm, sincere voice. "Sorry it took so long. There was a lot of necessary repairs to get through and I wanted to make sure the technicians understood how prototypes react differently from finished models."

Hank let out a sigh and Henry leaned up against his side again. "When can we see him?"

"Right now if you want. He's still rebooting from stasis mode, but he should wake up soon."

Henry nearly leapt out of the chair while Hank stood up more slowly. "Uh, is there anything we should be 'prepared to see'?"

"He's still attached to a cardiac monitor as a precaution, and he's still receiving blue blood to replace what he's lost. It's going through the line in his arm rather than down his throat so he can talk to you."

"Thanks, doc." Returning his hand to Henry's shoulder Hank guided his shaken grandson down the corridor to follow after Dr. Wilson to finally visit Connor at last. "Like I said Henry, everything will be okay."

One elevator ride later Hank and Henry were shown to where Connor was recovering.

"He's right in here." Dr. Wilson stated as he pushed the door open. "It's okay, go on."

Connor was resting in a bed propped slightly upright with a silent android cardiac monitor recording his vitals, and a nasal canula under his nose. He was pale from the Thirium loss, but he didn't look nearly as pale as he had been when Hank and Henry first arrived.

Entering the private room where Connor was resting Henry ran over to the bed and nearly threw himself on Connor to try to hug him. The sudden weight and warmth against his left arm made Connor's system fully reboot and he opened his undamaged eye. Glancing down at Henry resting against his uninjured side made Connor smile as he recognized his son instantly.

"...Henry."

"Dad!"

"I'm okay, Henry. I told you I'd be okay."

"You were _almost killed_!"

Connor swallowed once; partially out of nervousness and partially because his throat was raw from being intubated for four and a half hours. "...I'm a detective. It comes with the territory."

Hank walked in slowly to give Henry some time to speak to Connor alone, but still caught the end of Henry's worrying comment.

"You were wearing a bullet proof vest but you got shot anyway!"

"Henry, those men-"

"What if there's more guys like that?" His voice was beginning to crack and shake with emotion. Raw tears were begging to stream down his face in heavy streaks that made him look all the more scared. "What if next time you can't be saved?!"

The fear in Henry's voice made Connor's heart clench. It was the first time that Connor realized that Henry himself had a concept of life and death. Connor was his dad, his mom was already gone, Luke lived seven-hundred miles away and Hank was his only grandparent. Gavin and Abby were his godparents, but it wouldn't be the same without Connor himself in his life.

In the same way that Connor realized that losing Hank would leave him without a family, Henry would feel the exact same way if he lost his dad. Hank would take care of him, and he knew both Luke and Markus would step up to help him, but it wouldn't be the same without his father to look after him.

"Henry," wrapping his arm around Henry gently Connor pulled his son up on the bed and let him rest his head against his repaired chest. "I'm sorry."

"...For what?"

"For scaring you. I know I can't say anything that'll make you feel better about what happened to me, so I'll stop trying. But I can promise you that I'll take steps ensure that I won't be hurt anymore for as long as I'm still working at the precinct."

"How?!"

"...Captain Foxworth wants to return to Ann Arbor." He glanced over to Hank with a somber gaze. "Her family is there and she wants to be closer to them after her mother suffered a stroke. And two weeks ago... I was offered a promotion to Captain."

Henry lifted up his head as Hank gave Connor an odd glance. "What does that mean?"

"It means if I accept the promotion I won't be doing fieldwork anymore. It means I'll stay inside the precinct and give the orders from behind a desk and inside an office."

"...No more bullets?"

"No more bullets."

Hank put his hand on Henry's back as he looked down at Connor laying in the bed. "Son, you do know that means you won't be able to do anything in the field unless it's _absolutely_ necessary, right?"

"I know. That's why I initially turned it down. But, if it'll make Henry feel better to know that I'm safer as a Captain than as a Lieutenant, then I will accept the promotion and stay behind a desk."

Henry started to cry again causing Hank to instinctively rub his back while Connor tightened his arm around him. This time however the tears weren't of fear or of sadness, but relief and joy.

"It's okay, Henry." Connor winced a little as his pain receptors began to reboot as well and his respiration program jostled his healing chest. "I'm okay. I won't make you worry about me ever again, I promise."

* * *

With Hank's help Connor was able to limp back into Hank's house slowly and was guided over to the couch, while Henry proceeded to grab the blanket and pillow for his dad to feel more comfortable. The house still felt like Connor's home, and Henry always felt like he had two homes to call his own. At the moment the house felt empty and sad since Sumo passed away from old age the previous year, but like his predecessor he was buried in the backyard and was still remembered fondly.

"Seems like old times, huh, kid?" Hank joked as he watched Connor struggling to lay comfortably on the couch.

"Not old enough, it seems."

"Speak for yourself!"

Henry handed Connor the pillow and the blanket and watched as his dad used the offered items to get more comfortable. "Thanks, Henry."

"You're welcome. When do you go back to work?"

"Three days."

"...And will you be working in the field?"

"No." Connor replied honestly as he pressed his hand to his sore abdomen and chest. "I will remain behind my desk filing reports until my promotion is cleared and I can take over for Captain Foxworth."

"I'm glad. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't want to get hurt, either. Believe me."

"Have you been hurt before?"

"Uh..." Connor gave Hank an awkward glance before he finally answered. "Yeah. But as you can see, I recovered."

"Did you get hurt because you're an android?"

"Sometimes, yes. There were a lot more anti-android bigots in the city before you were born than there are now. Other times I got hurt because it's a hazardous job, or I was unintentionally careless."

Hank cleared his throat awkwardly and sat down in his new recliner; one Connor insisted on him buying to replace the old worn out one to help ease the pain in his back. "I took my own share of bumps and bruises along the way, Henry. That's part of the reason my back keeps hurtin' me."

"I thought that was just because you're old."

Laughing at the comment Hank just shook his head and sighed. "You got a smart mouth like your dad. I'm not surprised."

Connor smirked as well as he let out a weary, slow breath to ease his pain. "Henry, do you want to know about the time your Papa threw out his back and was stuck on the bathroom floor, or do you want to see a photo of him with his long hair?"

A mischievous smile appeared on Henry's face as he sat on the couch next to his dad. "How about both?"

Leaning back in the recliner Hank propped his feet up and let out another sigh. "...Like father, like son."

* * *

_**Henry: Fourteen Years Old.** _

Two years without any further incident at the precinct injuring Connor, or scaring Henry, had left the small family feeling more secure. Gavin took over Connor's previous position and was now second in command, a position that no one thought he'd attain because of his previous attitude problems, but then again no one thought an android would be given such a high rank or position of power. Chris was on his way to being a Lieutenant as well, while Tina and Jack were both successfully promoted to Sergeants.

There was a whole new squadron of rookie officers that Connor was now in charge of, but he wasn't afraid to lead, and his fellow officers weren't afraid to follow after him. Hank had never been prouder of the deviant he called his son.

"Hey, dad?" Henry called out from the bathroom, his voice a few octaves deeper than it had been the previous two years. "Can you help me out, please?"

Connor entered the bathroom and saw Henry running his fingertips over his chin where a noticeable dark stubble was beginning to grow. There was even a a few dark hairs growing on his upper lip. The teenager was much taller and had a lean, nimble build just like Connor. He was now eye level with Connor's chest and had just a few more freckles that adorned his complexion like his father. There were times where people who saw Connor and Henry together mistook them as brothers, which made Hank laugh but made Henry feel a little weird when he had to explain that the immortally young looking android was his father.

"Help you with what, son?"

"I, uh, I need to shave."

"O-Oh. Uh... I think that's going to have to be a problem for your Papa to solve today."

"...Papa has a beard and I've never seen him without it. Does he even remember _how_ to shave?"

Connor smirked at the comment as he decided that it was time for him to take Henry out to get a shaving kit, and maybe a few other personal hygiene products that he might want to try out.

"Come on." He motioned for the front door as he slipped on his shoes and grabbed the car keys from the massive bookshelf that lined the wall in a similar manner to the furnishings at Hank's house. "Get your shoes."

"Where we going?" Henry rubbed Opal's head as he passed by the cat sleeping on the back of the couch.

"We're going to get you hooked up with some grooming products. You choose, I buy."

"What if I want dark purple hair dye and a curling iron?"

"Then we'll pick up some green dye for your Papa and get a surge protector for the curling iron."

Henry sometimes had a hard time reading Connor's sarcasm, but it was getting easier over time. "... _Can_ I dye my hair?"

"If you want to, it's your hair."

"How come you're so cool with that kind of stuff, but when Jason put blond highlights in his hair he got grounded for a week?"

"Because I'm a cool parent," Connor replied as he pulled open the front door and waited Henry to follow. "and Jason's parents are not."

"Yeah, because nothing says 'I'm the cool dad' like _announcing_ that you're the cool dad."

"You inherited my smart mouth, but you adopted your Papa's sarcasm. That could be a dangerous weapon."

"For you or me?"

"For society."

* * *

A stop at the local super market and trip down the aisle with hygiene products had left Connor and Henry at a bit of pause. Connor had only needed to shower when he had gotten covered in dirt or grime at a crime scene or after he had gotten sick, as opposed to needing to shower daily/nightly to remove sweat and body oil like humans. He had begun showering more because of the update, but it wasn't entirely necessary. When Henry had been born Hank had already stocked up on baby shampoos and gentle body washes, and as Henry grew up Connor had purchased other types of shampoos and soaps, but he hadn't considered anything else special for Henry beyond deodorant.

"What do you think?" Henry asked as he looked at the numerous razor blades with utter loss. "I think the more blades the better, but they're way more expensive than the other stuff."

"Get what you want to try. I doubt you'll need to shave everyday, and even so, I'll pay for it."

"Really?"

"Yes. Get what you want."

"Alright, uh..." Trying to decide between two different brands of razors, both the same type and both the same price, Henry was still at a loss. "Is there really any difference?"

Connor ran a scan over the two packs of razors and twitched his mouth. "I can't see one. Flip a coin." Fishing out his quarter he tossed it to Henry who caught it in his graceful hands. "Heads you take the razors in the blue package. Tails you takes the razors in the red package."

"Alright." Flipping the coin up in the air Henry caught it and made his decision. "Heads, blue it is!"

Tossing Connor back his coin Henry put back the red razors and dropped the blue one in the shopping basket. Moving onto the next item Henry had less difficulty in his decision, and went solely by the 'scent' on the can of shaving cream and placed it in the basket next to the razors. The idea of aftershave seemed appealing, but Henry really didn't know what it was for.

"Put it in the basket." Connor saw him eyeing the item and encouraged him to try it as well. "Also grab some extra deodorant so you don't have to worry about it for a while."

"Sure."

Connor watched as his teenage son set about taking care of his own hygiene and even took the time to add a new toothbrush, shampoo and soap to his basket just to make sure he had everything taken care of. It was a strange sense of pride and sadness as Henry started showing more independence, personal responsibility and overall maturity.

"Think this is all I'll need?"

Connor looked at the items in the cart and tilted his head. "I don't know. Want to throw in a box of band-aids in case your Papa is a bad teacher?"

"For me or for him?"

Smiling again Connor motioned for the front of the store to check-out. "Come on. Let's get back to the house."

* * *

As Connor pulled the Corvette up to the house he saw that Hank was outside in his drive next door, and he seemed to have a new toy to play with. Being retired gave Hank so much more free time, and with Henry no longer needing to be watched everyday after school he was getting a little restless. Fortunately, it looked like he found himself a new project to keep his mind preoccupied.

"Looks like your Papa was out shopping, too." Connor noted as he and Henry walked up the driveway side by side.

"Yeah. And it looks like he had fun while he was at it."

Hank heard the two talking as he popped open the hood of the old car he had just purchased and was now seeking to restore. "What do you think, son?"

"I think it's a nineteen eighty-nine Chevrolet Camaro." Connor replied as literally as he could. "And it needs work."

"Yup. I needed something to do, and since you keep the Corvette with you or at work, I wanted another classic beauty to work on."

"Where'd you find it?"

"An old contact from the precinct told me about it." Walking around the car to speak to the duo face to face Hank noticed the patch of facial hair growing on Henry's chin and smirked. "What's this?" Putting his hand under Henry's chin he gently turned his grandson's face so he could see the small dark goatee trying to form on his chin and over his upper lip. "Henry, you growing a beard?"

"Not if I can help it." Holding up the plastic bag with his new items he gave his grandfather a pleading look. "But dad says this is something you'll need to coach me through."

"Yeah, sure. Let's go." Patting Henry's shoulder Hank motioned for the backdoor. "We'll do this, and Connor, you can take a quick scan of the Camaro for me so I know what I need to repair, replace and get restored."

"No problem. Thanks for your help, dad."

It didn't take Connor too long to run a scan over the vehicle and chronicle all of the maintenance requirements, and even less time to figure out what Hank was up to. Satisfied that the car was in decent enough condition to be restored within a respectable time frame, and within a reasonable budget, Connor walked inside the house and made his way down the hallway in time to see Henry rinsing off his face and running his hand over his now smooth chin again.

"You look good." Connor complimented as Henry looked at his reflection. "Are you going to shave every day or let your goatee grow?"

"I don't think facial hair's for me. I was starting to look like a 'James Bond' villain."

"You're too young to be worried about looking villainous." Connor confirmed as he and Hank smirked at the comment.

"Yeah, but the weird thing is in a while I think people might think I'm older than you."

Connor pressed his hand to his own chin and shook his head. "Sorry, Henry. It's not my fault androids aesthetically don't age."

Hank knew Connor had finished examining the Camaro and was eager to know how it was holding up. "How's the car?"

"It'll need transmission, brakes, a battery, spark plugs, the usual repairs; but it's well within the realm of reality to do so with a practical budget and time frame."

"Cool. Think you can track the necessary parts and-"

"Already done."

"...send it to my phone. Connor, _I_ can pay for the parts."

"I'm aware, but you already paid for the car itself and I know you'll be doing a majority of the work while I'm at the precinct."

"Well, joke's on you kid." Nudging Henry in the ribs lightly with his elbow Hank motioned with a thumb over the shoulder in the direction of the Camaro outside. "Henry, want to help?"

"You'll show me how to work a car?"

"Yup."

"Cool! I'll have something to do this summer when we're not at the cabin."

"Which reminds me," Hank looked at Connor and gave him a nod. "two weeks from now I want to have a Fourth of July type of thing at the cabin. Get the time off and we'll have a B.B.Q. or something."

"I will. I suppose that's one of the perks to being a Captain, I can set my own hours."

"Go on, Henry. I'll show you what to look for in an engine; what's good and what's crap."

"Yeah, okay."

Once Henry was out of hearing range Connor addressed Hank discreetly and in a low voice.

"Did you speak to your doctor?"

"...Yeah, kid. It's uh, not great."

Hesitating only for a moment Connor forced himself to ask about the prognosis. "How bad?"

"My liver's beginning to breakdown on me." The look in Hank's eyes were full of frightened tears. "Stage one cancer."

That word left Connor stunned, almost speechless. "...Cancer?"

"I'm going to begin treatment to kill the tumor, but, with my age and health history..."

"Please don't give up."

"I'm not, son. If I didn't have you or Henry I would throw in the towel right here, right now. But I'll put up a fight for as long as I can."

"What should I tell Henry?"

"Nothing. I don't want him to see me as a sick old man, I want him to always see me as his Papa. Don't tell him I'm sick. Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"And like I said, I'm going to fight back. Just think of this as age making a fool of me, nothing more."

"Yeah..."

"I'd tell you to not worry, but you will. So instead," Hank clapped his hand down on Connor's shoulder and held his palm there for a moment. "I'll ask that you focus on Henry and making sure he's focused on everything else. Got it?"

"Got it."

Henry rushed back into the bathroom and knocked on the door frame frantically. "Come on, Papa! Show me the car!"

"I'm coming, Henry. Right behind ya'!"

While the two left the bathroom to go check out the car outside Connor stayed behind and took a deep breath. The last thing he wanted to hear was that Hank was sick with cancer. Even though it was stage one it was cancer nonetheless, and Hank's body wasn't as strong as it used to be.

"Stay strong." The deviant told himself as he leaned against the bathroom sink. "For Henry."

Connor looked at his own reflection and compared it to how Henry looked, then realized that in the eighteen years he had known Hank that the retired detective was aging quickly. His face was more weather worn, though his eyes stayed bright and alert. The chronic pain in his back had ruined his posture making him look even older and more fragile. While Hank had full gray in his hair and his beard since the first day Connor met him the keen eyed deviant could see that he was looking whiter and paler than usual.

"Do what's best for Henry. No matter what it takes..."

* * *

Hank was showing Henry everything under the hood of the car, explaining the mechanics of the engine and how to diagnose mechanical failure, when Connor eventually joined them outside. While the two were busy looking under the hood Connor stood just off to the side of the front of the car and silently observed from afar.

Sensing Connor's presence Hank briefly glanced up, then did a double-take. "What the... Connor? What the hell did you do to your hair?"

Henry looked up and almost laughed at his dad as he now boasted natural looking streaks of gray through his hair, and a few exaggerated frown lines on his face and lines around his eyes. "And your face?!"

"I decided to alter my look to reflect my age more accurately in comparison to yours, Henry."

"So you put gray in your hair and look like you haven't sleep in two years?"

"Thanks to your tantrums as a toddler that lack of sleep for two years is rather apt."

"I can accept that, but you can't blame the gray on me."

"No, that can be blamed on working for a precinct for eighteen years."

Hank just laughed and shook his head. "Connor, I get what you're doing but that look just isn't _you_."

"Without question, I was not meant to age. But I determined that this would make it less socially awkward for the other parents whenever I tend to Henry's school activities or go anywhere with him in a social setting. People won't assume we are brothers and finally recognize us as father and son now that you aren't an infant anymore."

Henry looked a little embarrassed but played it off cool. "Only sport that look when we're dealing with school stuff. I don't want to look at the gray in your hair all day while home."

"That's manageable." The aesthetic alterations to his appearance faded away as easily as Connor had implemented them. "Better?"

"Much."

Hank had enough of the weird conversation and changed the subject back to the car. "Now that Connor is back to normal, how about you two help me get this car back to normal, too?"

"Of course. Where do we start?"

* * *

_**Henry: Sixteen Years Old.** _

Another milestone in Henry's life meant another learning experience for Connor as a father. Nervously Henry sat behind the steering wheel of the Corvette with Connor beside him in the passenger seat. The teenager was clutching his learner's permit in his shaking hand and took a deep breath as he stared at the road at the end of the driveway.

"Are you sure you want to let me drive the Corvette? I mean, my high school has it's own driver's ed program and they provide the cars."

"You're more familiar with this car. And I trust you to not be reckless with the Corvette."

"I've never driven before, dad."

"I know, Henry. That's why we're doing this." Connor gave his son a confident grin as he realized their dilemma. Connor never needed to "learn" how to drive since it was already programmed into his database, he could just drive. But Henry needed to learn. He couldn't just "do it" as Connor had done so easily in the past. "Would you like your Papa to teach you how to drive?"

"N-No. I just..."

"Nervous?"

"...Yeah."

"It's okay, Henry. We're not going to drive across the country, or even out of the neighborhood. Just circle the block and get used to the car."

"One lap?"

"One lap."

"I... Okay." Pocketing his driver's permit Henry took a deep breath. "I can do that."

Pulling his seatbelt over his chest Henry secured it into place with an audible 'click' and Connor did the same thing. As Henry's shaking hand turned the key in the ignition he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Pressing his foot down on the brake Henry shifted the car from park and into drive.

"All you have to do is gently let up on the brake and let the car pull itself down the drive. It'll go slow automatically so don't worry about using the accelerator."

"...Right."

"When you reach the end of the drive gently reapply the brake and hold it."

Listening to Connor's instructions Henry made his way down the driveway very slowly and came to a stop again.

"Good. Now turn on your signal to go right."

Henry found the controls for the turn signal and turned it on accordingly.

"Check to make sure the street is clear and then just as slowly pull out onto the road."

Again Henry followed the instructions perfectly and managed to get the car onto the road and stay in his designated lane.

"Perfect." Connor remained calm as he watched Henry nervously adjusting the wheel to straighten the tires. "Press down lightly on the accelerator, most people recommend using your big toe to add pressure. Get the car up to thirty miles per hour at a steady pace and come to a gentle stop at the sign at the end of the street."

Slowly, but surely Henry managed to get the car up to speed, stop, and wait for his next set of instructions. Connor calmly directed his son step by step until Henry made a full circle of the block. Instead of pulling back into the driveway Henry decided to take one more lap and Connor didn't protest. The longer Henry drove the more confident he became in his abilities and was no longer nervous.

"Keep this up for two weeks and I think you'll be ready to start driving at night."

"Night?"

"The laws are the same at night, Henry." Connor replied coolly from where he sat. "Just turn on the headlights and let your eyes adjust to the dark."

"...Right. Sure."

* * *

The next day while Connor was taking care of his shift at the precinct Henry was working with Hank on the Camaro in the driveway beside the house. The two were talking mostly about the car, but when the topic of Henry's driver's education came up the teenager was proud to talk about how he had managed to ace driving during the day, was doing great at night, and was even able to drive through rain without problems.

"That's great, Henry." Hank was leaning his right hand heavily against his wooden walking cane to support most of his weight. The cane was something Hank had to start using since the summer before, but he didn't let it slow him down. "When's the big test?"

"Next month."

"Think you can handle it?"

"I hope so. If I can get my license, then next month I can drive Courtney to the prom."

"Oh... Who's _Courtney_?"

Henry blushed a bright red in the same manner that Connor would blush bright blue when embarrassed. "...Just a girl from my art class."

"Oh. Is she _pretty_?"

Henry somehow managed to blush brighter and his voice cracked a little. "Y-Yeah. I guess."

"Have you gone on a date with her before?"

"N-No. We, uh, we're just sort of friends."

"How are you 'sort of' friends?" Hank pressed watching Henry blush brighter and brighter.

"Well, I like her but she doesn't talk very much, except in art class. And I kinda' asked her in advance... to the prom."

"Is she shy?"

"I think she's just sheltered."

"Oh." Hank watched with pride as Henry expertly moved his hands over the engine like he had been working on cars his whole life. "Shy girls usually make the best dates, once they get to know you and feel comfortable their all kinds of fun."

"And I told her that we could go to the junior prom next month together if she wanted to go with a friend, and not have the pressure of a date."

"She said 'Yes'?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"...Think I can pass my driver's test?"

"Hell yeah! You've aced every test you've ever taken, straight A's from the first grade all the way to this day. Of course you can pass _this_ test."

"Were you nervous when you took the test yourself?"

"A little. But that was mostly because I only had my old man's worn out pick-up truck to drive, and I was paranoid the bumper would fall off or something. You get that pristine Corvette to drive so you don't have anything to worry about."

"Yeah... Think I could drive this Camaro once it's finally painted?"

"Get in line, Henry." Hank wiped grease off his hands onto an old rag and tossed it over to Henry to use. "Me first!"

* * *

The day of the big test was finally at hand.

Henry was sitting at the designated driver's school with the instructor in the passenger seat beside him. While Connor and Hank had both reassured him that he'd do great the teenager was still nervous. The instructor introduced himself and told Henry the basic parameters of the test that he'd need to perform in order to pass the test. Parking, parallel parking, K-turn, signaling, all the basic procedures that any driver would need to master.

The real test was when they got out onto the street and then proceeded to prove Henry's skill as a competent driver. Connor had to remain behind at the school while Henry went off with the instructor.

"You can do this, Henry." Connor encouraged before he walked away from the Corvette. "I'll be here when it's over."

"...Yeah. I'll do my best."

The Corvette slowly pulled out of the drive of the parking lot and pulled perfectly out onto the street to begin the test. With a confident nod Connor stepped out of the parking lot and into the school to wait for Henry's return. Another parent, a mother whose daughter was also taking her driver's test, saw Connor and smirked.

"You're Henry's father, aren't you?"

"Yes I am." Connor confirmed, grateful that his decision to alter his appearance when dealing with his son's education was paying off.

"He looks just like you! It's uncanny!"

"Oh, yeah. We get that a lot. Thank you."

It took half an hour for Henry to return to the school and park out front. Connor went outside to meet his son and was greeted by the sight of Henry shaking the instructor's hand with a big smile on his face. Connor didn't need anyone to tell him that Henry had passed the test. As soon as the instructor stepped out of the Corvette he handed Connor the final slip confirming Henry's successful test and the subsequent legal document for him to get his license.

"So..." Connor opened up the passenger side door and sat beside his son. "do you want to wait until tomor-"

"No way! Come on! It's not even noon, there's plenty of time to go get my license!"

Connor just smirked and showed Henry that he had the other necessary documents required for Henry to get his license in jacket. "Okay, you know how to get there, right?"

"Yeah, I know the way."

"We'll go get you your license and you can show it to your Papa yourself."

"Gladly!"

As soon as Henry got back home he ran over to show Hank his license and did so with the biggest grin on his face. As proud as Henry was about passing his test and getting his license Hank was even prouder. Showing him to the Camaro in the driveway Hank handed Henry his phone with a vast array of custom colored paint designated for the car and asked him to pick.

"Alright, since Connor and I had a hard time picking the color for the Corvette, YOU and you alone, get to pick the color for the Camaro."

"Seriously?!" Henry accepted the phone and looked like he was about to burst.

"Yup. You helped me with this car and I think you've earned this for acing your driving test, _just like I said you would_ , by the way. Go ahead! Pick!"

"...Any color?"

"Yup."

"...Even pee-yellow?"

"Uh..."

"I'm just messing with you, I know _better_ than that."

"Damn right you do." Happy to have Henry sharing his and Connor's dry and sarcastic sense of humor. "Whatever color you like will go on the car."

Checking through the screen on the phone Henry scanned through the various colors and came to rest on deep, cherry red color. "That one. That's the color."

Hank took the phone from Henry's hand and look at his choice. "Cherrybomb red. Damn good choice."

"I think so, too."

"Alright. I'm ordering the paint, and when it arrives I'll show the secret to an even, smooth coat."

"I take it painting metal is a lot different than painting on canvas. It's the size, right?"

Smirking at Henry's comment Hank patted his shoulder with his left hand while he continued to support his weight on his right hand against the cane. "You and your dad just love to be smartasses, don't ya'?"

"Well, I am essentially dad's clone. So, yeah."

"You got your dad's looks, but you know where you got your smarts, right?"

"From grandma?"

"Such a smartass..."

* * *

Connor helped Henry with his black bowtie as his son stood tall and proud in his black tuxedo in the middle of the livingroom. Henry was a little nervous about having his first (sort of) date with Courtney, but he was still giving an air of confidence that made Connor smirk. Checking the time on his phone, and making sure he had Courtney's corsage, Henry let of a calming breath and nodded as Connor stepped back.

"How do I look?"

"Like my son wearing a nice tuxedo."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Henry, you look great. You always do, but this time it's 'fancy-great'. I think."

"It's easier for you with your clothes. You have seven of the same outfits for work, three dark suits, one tuxedo and couple spare jackets."

"It's a lot easier to do laundry, too."

"Dad, please. I'm anxious."

"Henry, you look handsome." Picking up the flower corsage that Henry was clutching onto, Connor mentioned the beautiful gift. "And this will make Courtney very happy. You look like a true gentleman."

"...Uh, how long can I, you know," Henry was petting Opal as she jumped up on the arm of the couch and rubbed against his elbow. "stay out?"

"When is the prom over?"

"It starts at seven and is over at ten. And the 'after-prom' start at eleven."

"How long is the 'after-prom'?"

"We'll be in the school from eleven to nine. The entire building will be on lockdown until morning."

"If the school is on lockdown then you can stay until nine. BUT, I will meet you at the school to drive you home so you don't fall asleep behind the wheel."

"Cool, thanks dad."

Hank walked through the front door of the house and smirked as he looked over at Henry dressed sharply in his tuxedo. "Lookin' good, Henry. Ready for the prom?"

"Yeah. I'm actually just about to leave."

"Corvette?"

"Yeah. I get the car for the night."

"Too bad."

"...Why's that?"

Hank reached into his pocket and tossed Henry a new set of keys, which he caught every easily with his free hand. "The Camaro is ready to go. I was hoping you'd take your own car for the night."

"My... _own car_?" Henry looked at the keys and gave Hank a strange look that always rivaled the curious stares that Connor would give him.

"Yup. You've earned it."

"...The Camaro?!" Henry's eyes were as wide as saucers and he paled a little in surprise. "The Camaro is MY car?"

"Yup."

Nearly stumbling over himself Henry rushed over to Hank and gave him a massive, appreciative hug. "Thank you so much, Papa!"

"You're welcome, Henry." Patting Henry's back with one hand so he could still balance on his cane, Hank gave Henry a proud stare. "Now, go on. Go enjoy your prom and have some fun!"

"I will... Thank you! See ya' later, dad, Papa!"

"Have fun, Henry. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."

* * *

While Henry was at the prom Connor and Hank spent time together at Hank's house watching the preseason try-outs for the upcoming baseball season on the television, while also talking about how much Henry has grown, and how human Connor had become as Henry grew up. It was just after nine in the evening when one of the android chaperone's monitoring the prom sent Connor a cybernetic message and with a small live feed video.

"Dad, look." Connor held out his right palm and showed the live feed of Henry slow-dancing with Courtney from the prom. Henry was smiling and Courtney seemed be enjoying herself, too. "He looks happy."

"Yeah. He really does..."

Hank was so proud of his small family. Connor was an incredible detective and an even better father. Luke was the most skilled technician on the East Coast and like Connor, had helped to bring about android rights in Boston. And Henry was a well liked, popular, straight-A student with a promising basketball scholarship practically guaranteed under his belt.

"Connor, you did an amazing job helping guide Henry into becoming the wonderful young man he is today."

"Without you to guide me on my own growth to humanity I don't think I would've been able to take care of him in the way he needed."

"Don't sell yourself short, kid." He and Connor continued to watch Henry dancing with his date on the small live feed display. "You have a natural and deeply-seeded paternal instinct. Even if I _hadn't_ been there you would've been able to take care of Henry just fine."

"...I'd like to think so. But I'm still so worried that I'll do something to affect him negatively."

"Hey, Henry's a great kid, and there's nothing you could ever say or do to him to change that. You have the right to be proud of yourself as a parent. I know I'm proud of you."

The song came to an end and Henry stopped dancing with Courtney. Walking her off the dance floor the two disappeared into the crowd of other students and the feed ceased from displaying the dance. Connor closed his hand and let his arm rest against his lap as he sat on the edge of the couch next to Hank, who was sitting propped up in his recliner right beside his android son.

"...Henry's grown-up."

"Not quite, Connor. He still has two more years to go until he's grown-up. And even then, he'll never stop needing you as his dad. Look at the way you still come to me for guidance. Once a father, ALWAYS a father."

"Yeah. Always."

* * *

_**Henry: Seventeen Years Old.** _

The sound of Henry's crying through his closed bedroom door made Connor's heart ache. The teenager was heartbroken and struggling to deal with the hardship that comes from a bad break-up, and losing a good friend. As Henry isolated himself to process the emotional turmoil Connor stayed outside the door, sitting down on the floor opposite the door, and waited for Henry to make the first move to opening the door to talk.

It had been almost an hour before Henry's crying began to soften and he calmed a little.

"Henry?" Connor called out in a soft voice to his pained son on the other side of the door. "Do you need anything?"

"...No."

"Do you want to talk about?"

"...No."

"If you want, I can make you something to eat. You have to be starving."

There was a long pause before Henry finally responded again. "...Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Why does it hurt so much?"

"...Because hearts are fragile." The answer was simplistic but completely accurate. "I learned this a long time ago in the most painful way possible. I survived heartbreak, your Papa survived it and I know you will too. You just need some time to let your heart heal."

"If Rachel wanted to break-up with me, why couldn't she just tell me? Why'd she have to _cheat_ on me?"

"She didn't _have_ to cheat, Henry. She _chose_ to do that."

"I miss Courtney!"

"I know. But she moved to California three months ago, and that's a long trip just to visit her."

"...This sucks."

"Yeah, it does."

"It feels like I'm going to be sad forever. Like I'm never going to find anyone like Courtney ever again. Tomorrow at school I'm going to see Rachel all day long, and I want nothing to do with her!"

Letting out a heavy sigh of his own Connor felt tears welling up in eyes. "...Henry. Do you want to know about... your mom?"

There was a heavy silence from the other side of the door as Henry contemplated the offer. Connor only told Henry a few details about Skye, always excluding the way she had died, but always telling him about how brave she was risking herself to help other deviants in need, and how much they truly loved one another.

"...Mom?" Henry whispered through the door somewhat perplexed.

"Yeah."

"How come... you never talk about her?"

"For the same reason Papa doesn't like to talk about your Uncle Cole or Grandma Barbara. It hurts."

"...So I _am_ going to be sad forever."

"No, Henry. The type of pain you're experiencing only seems like it'll last forever. The pain that your Papa and I went through is the kind that'll... Well, it leaves a scar on your heart. But even the darkest of scars won't stop your heart from beating."

Connor heard Henry move from his bed and slink down to the floor just on the other side of his still closed bedroom door. "...Tell me about her."

Taking a deep breath Connor steadied his voice and went into details about how he and Skye met under dire, life-threatening circumstances, and how they escaped from captivity and torture into the forests in Canada. He told him how Hank and North came to their rescue and how Skye stayed at New Jericho Tower to aid the other deviant refugees and help escort others to safety.

"She was brave and self-sacrificing. Fearless." Connor was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check, but he maintained for Henry's benefit. "I think that's what began drawing me toward her."

Connor spoke of meeting Skye for the 'first time all over again' after she changed her appearance from the design she had been forced to take at the 'Eden Club', and finally became the deviant she wanted to be. Connor talked about Markus and North's bonding ceremony at the cabin and how he felt like there was something more to Skye than just being her friend.

"As beautiful as North looked, I couldn't stop looking at Skye. I was too shy to say anything to her, but I think she knew I was.. interested.

The details regarding Connor's kidnapping and forced servitude in the illegal underground fight club in Chicago was a story Henry had never heard before. Escaping and being escorted back home by Skye after she used her contacts to find him at the refuge outside the city, and how she tended to his fever until he was strong enough to move again. That was definitely the beginning of their closer relationship. The willingness to trust her when she developed the new security protocols at the tower cemented their bond, and made it easier to get even closer.

"Your mom was determined to keep everyone safe, no matter what the cost. She was attacked for her efforts, but wasn't deterred in her mission to save our people from torment."

Connor told Henry about their first date, how they enjoyed spending time together and how Hank was happy for him. The details regarding his promotion and her pride in his accomplishments made them feel even closer on an emotional level, and knew their combined efforts would help protect the innocent deviants throughout the entire city. But with every step forward they took there was someone determined to make them take two steps back.

"...Shortly after I was promoted to Lieutenant, and your Papa was promoted to Captain, an... incident happened in the city. There was a riot." Connor's eyes closed as he dared to tell Henry about the final night of his mother's life. "Skye, your mom, was trying to stop it before it went out of control, but..." Trailing off briefly Connor forced himself to finish the story. "She was injured. I arrived at the scene with your Papa, and we took her to New Jericho Tower as fast as we could to save her. But... the damage was too severe. She and I bonded with one another, promising to be together forever and to never stray for each other before she... passed. It hurt more than anything I could comprehend, and... I was so depressed that I almost killed myself in my own grief from self-neglect. Your Papa saved my life and gave me a shoulder to cry on. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here right now."

It was silent for a moment as the father and son duo processed their heartache and tried to understand how life can in fact continue in spite of their emotional pain. Opening his door slowly Henry walked outside the bedroom with Opal in his arms and sat down on the floor next to Connor in the hallway.

"...What does mom even look like?"

Connor sighed and held up his right hand to reveal the photograph of them together from the day of his promotion in the center of his palm. It was the photograph taken of the duo to highlight the story in the newspaper, and was subsequently the only photo that Connor had of himself with Skye.

"...She was beautiful."

"She was. And smart, kind, patient, caring... She and I had talked about having our own family the moment the laws changed and we were able to legally adopt. That's why when everything that happened with you coming into the world, your mother's own model D.N.A. was used, too. She IS your mother, even if she wasn't here when you were born."

"I know. I can feel it." Henry sighed a little and rubbed his hand along Opal's chin causing the cat to purr in his arms and snuggle up against him. "Now I know why you'd disappear on your 'bonding' anniversary every year, and come back home in tears. You were visiting her and you're sill in mourning, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you never remarried or even dated anyone else? It's not a crime to date or ever marry someone else. Papa has been dating Nana Rose for as long as I can remember, and they're both widowed."

"Henry, for androids it's very different when we become widowed." Connor explained in a low voice. "Your mother and I were bonded and she... shutdown shortly thereafter. Once the bond is forged it's permanent until we both agree to sever it. She is gone and therefore the bond is impossible to sever. I can't... move on because I am forever bonded to her. And I still love her with all my heart."

"Widowed androids are destined to be alone, forever?"

"I'm not alone, Henry. I have you, I have your Papa, and I have your Uncle Luke in my life."

"But you still miss mom." Henry realized as he saw the tears welling up in his father's eyes. "And you miss her every day, don't you?"

"...Yeah. I do." Closing his hand to conceal the image Connor looked into his son's blue eyes and apologized. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to tell you about her. It just... hurt."

Leaning against Connor's shoulder heavily Henry wrapped his arms around his dad and held tight on tight. "...Yeah, I know that. At least I do now."

"You're very much like her, Henry. You're just as smart, kind, patient and caring as she was." Connor stated as he reciprocated his son's hug. "I'm glad you took after her so much even though she couldn't be here to help raise you."

"You did pretty good on your own." Henry managed to comment in a weak voice, and tried to lighten the heavy mood. "Even if you are the 'weird dad'."

"Henry, I've never even offered you the chance to see her, and I'm sorry. Would you like to go... 'visit' your mother?"

"...Yeah." Wiping his hand over his face Henry removed his tears, his blue eyes were bloodshot and red from crying and made his blue irises very bright. "I think I'd like to visit mom."

"Okay. Just give me the word and we'll go see her."

"Thanks, dad."

"I love you, son."

"I love you, too, dad."

Letting himself cry a little more again his father's shoulder Henry knew he was beginning to heal, even if it was still hurting him to think about it. Between Connor's compassionate nature and Hank's thick-skinned demeanor regarding hardship, Henry knew he had all the emotional support he'd need to get over his heartbreak.

* * *

_**Henry: Eighteen Years Old.** _

The day that Connor had been excitedly waiting for, but secretly dreading was finally at hand. Henry's high school graduation. While the young adult was proudly getting ready for the day in his bedroom Connor was standing outside the house on the small back porch staring into the nothingness of the horizon beyond the property line. A presence joined him on the porch and he didn't even need to look to know it was Hank.

"Hey, dad."

"Hey, son. Is Henry excited?"

"Yes. And very proud."

"He should be! Salutatorian with a full athletic scholarship to the University of Michigan is something to be _very proud_ of."

"I just can't believe my son isn't... a _kid_ anymore."

"No, not in the eyes of the law. But you will ALWAYS see Henry as a kid. _Always_."

Henry opened up the backdoor to look out at his dad and grandfather as he expertly tied his black tie and tightened the knot up around the collar of his pale blue dress shirt. Henry was now Connor's height, right down to the centimeter, but his athletic prowess gave him slightly more muscle mass than the deviant. He had a few freckles like Connor, but not as many as his dad sported. Henry's hair was also styled in a similar manner, save for the rogue lock of hair that Connor refused to tame.

If Henry's eyes were brown and not blue he'd be a perfect clone of his father.

Henry looked at his dad and grandfather with a proud smile on his face. "So... Are you guys ready to go?"

"Yeah, son." Connor was very proud to see his son so grown-up and happy. Unlike himself Henry always shown the full, bright smile that Connor himself only showed once in a great while. "You head out to the school and we'll meet up with you in an hour when the ceremony starts."

"Are ya' sure? A lot of the parents accompany their kids to the school for photos and stuff."

"...You don't mind?"

"Why would I mind? You're my dad." He turned to look at Hank as he spoke. "And you're welcome too, Papa."

Before Connor had the chance to try to dismiss the offer so Henry could go alone Hank put his hand on the deviant's shoulder to quiet him. "Absolutely. Pull the Camaro around front and I'll go put on my nicer shirt."

"It's not going to be the one with zebra stripes, is it?"

"No, I'll wear my navy blue shirt."

"...Thank you."

"I'm saving the zebra shirt for your _open house_."

"O-Oh... great. Uh, I'll see you guys out front."

As Henry returned to the house to get his keys and grab his graduation cap and gown Connor turned to look at Hank with utter confusion in his eyes. "Why'd you insist we go? This day is all about Henry, not the parents."

"Right. And Henry WANTS us there. You're just having a hard time accepting that this day is really here, and you want to postpone it."

"...Does that make me selfish?"

"No, it just makes you a normal dad with the same normal response to time turning their kid into an adult."

Connor smirked with pride as tears formed in his eyes. "...My son is all grown-up. I remember every second of his life and all of his accomplishments, but it seems like time itself was a lie."

"Yup. That's usually how it goes, son. Come on. Help me find that blue shirt or else I'll have to wear the maroon one with black streaks."

"I should do you a favor and toss that shirt in the city dump."

"No way, the fact _you_ hate it so much makes _me_ like it more."

* * *

Boasting proud smiles Connor and Hank stood on other side of Henry. Connor sporting his 'aged' aesthetic for the sake of the 'normalcy' on Henry's behalf, the small family had their photo taken by the school's photography club to get the yearbook finished at the end of the graduation ceremony. A few feet away Aria herself was getting her photo taken along with Gavin and Abby, they too were just as proud of Aria as Connor and Hank were of Henry.

Just as Henry was nearly a perfect copy of Connor, Aria was nearly identical to Abby. Aria had Gavin's eyes and his same 'don't-take-shit-from-anyone' attitude, but she was just as compassionate and empathetic as Abby. It was uncanny to say the least.

Once the photos were finished Connor and Hank were instructed with the rest of the parents to go to the high school auditorium to watch the ceremony unfold. Sitting near the front row of the seats to better accommodate Hank's cane, they were joined by Gavin and Abby along the same row of the chairs.

"Connor, you look so weird with gray in your hair." Abby teased, her own long brown hair now sporting a few gray streaks herself. "Please tell me that isn't permanent."

"It's not. This is only for when I'm participating in events revolving around Henry. Otherwise people mistake us for brothers."

Hank nudged Connor lightly in his side. "Speaking of which..."

Turning his head to where Hank was staring Connor saw that Luke, who had adopted Connor's aged aesthetic and removed his L.E.D., had just arrived. "Luke!"

"Hey, little brother. I made it."

"I'm glad you found a way to get the time to be here for Henry." He smiled as Luke sat beside him on the other side of Hank. "How long can you stay?"

"Two weeks. I made sure to get enough time to participate in Henry's open house as well."

"Thank you. He'll be surprised to see you."

Hank put his hand on Luke's shoulder. "You're rooming with me, not in a hotel and not in the tower. Connor's old bedroom is still free."

"Thanks, dad."

A few feet from behind Luke, and the gathering group of parents, Markus made his way into the auditorium and quickly spotted Connor and Luke in the front seats. "Hey, Connor, Luke, and Hank. Hope I'm not intruding."

"Markus?" Connor was surprised once more as the deviant leader arrived to join in on the ceremony. "You're not intruding, I just wasn't expecting to see you."

"Hey, I'm not missing out on this." Sitting down beside Hank quickly Markus reached out and shook Connor and Luke's hands, before doing the same for Hank as a show of genuine respect. "I've never been to a graduation ceremony, and I want to see Henry graduate. Everyone else at Jericho will be at the open house this Friday."

"Thank you."

The ceremony began and the graduating students all began filing in the auditorium alphabetically, two at a time. Walking down the center aisle in the auditorium leading the stage up front, the students passed between the seats that were divided evenly into two sections. Starting with the last names first to allow the students to reach the back rows of their elevated seats on the stage at the front of the auditorium, all the kids looked proud and nervous as their friends and family looked on proudly.

When Aria walked by Gavin discreetly reached out and passed a pink rose into his daughter's hand causing her to blush as she passed by and took her assigned seat on stage. Not long after Henry walked by with his head held high, his silver tinted tassel and sash were resting around his neck and shoulders to mark his place as the class's salutatorian, and took his seat near in the front row of the chairs on the stage.

Henry glanced out in the crowd and saw not only Connor and Hank, but his Uncle Luke and honorary 'Uncle Markus' as well. Of course he smiled before trying to look back out at the rest of the auditorium as his fellow classmates were already doing.

The principal began the ever cliche speech about how the students were the future and how every person in attendance should be proud of the accomplishments of the young students. In doing so the students were all asked to rise in recognition of the valedictorian and the salutatorian, as well as those who were awarded with scholarships and their awards as athletes, artists, musicians and other forms of extracurricular activity.

Once the principal was finished with her speech she gave the floor to Henry. The salutatorian was given the honor of opening the actual graduation ceremony and had a speech prepared, and perfectly memorized for the occasion.

Henry fearlessly stood before the podium as he looked out to the gathered families and friends in attendance and smiled.

"It's been said that change can be painful," he stated in a level voice to perfectly convey the conflicting emotions of pride, fear, excitement and doubts filling the auditorium. "but it's also been said that pain is weakness leaving the body. To quote our former president John F. Kennedy ' _Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future_ '. And I firmly believe he is still right. It's difficult to move on after spending so much time in one place with the same people, and it's also easy to forget about the world around us. In my time I've met some incredibly unique people who've fought to change the world for the better, and it's those people who've given me the confidence to face the world head on. And I'm proud to have them in my life to this day."

Connor was beginning to tear up, as was Hank.

"And I stand here on behalf of my fellow classmates to say to those who have joined us here on this day to say, thank you. Thank you for believing in us, thank you for encouraging us, thank you for supporting us, and thank you for changing the world for the better so that we now have the chance to change the world to become its absolute best."

A thunderous round of applause as well as a few sniffles from the more emotional parents filled the air while Connor wiped away a tear from his eye. "You're welcome, son."

The principal resumed her place behind the podium and began announcing the graduating class one student as a time to receive their diplomas. With the name 'Anderson' giving him a lead on the ceremony, Henry was the third member of his class to receive his diploma and shake the principal's hand. The moment it happened Connor felt a mixture of pride and sadness in his heart as it was made official.

Henry was a high school graduate.

Connor was in a daze until the valedictorian and the principal brought the ceremony to a close and announced the graduating class with utter support, and pride.

As the graduating students turned their tassels on their caps the principal gave the final word. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the class of 2060."

The hats were thrown into the air with a raucous cheer from the students and as a result the hands rained back down over the attending crowd.

Connor just watched with pride as Henry smiled and spoke with his friends up on the stage and proceeded to rejoin his classmates as they exited the auditorium for more photographs. Slow to get up from his seat Connor found Henry's hat in the pile of hats on the floor and picked it up and held it in his hands.

"You'll be the one to help change this world, Henry." The always proud deviant father whispered to himself. "I know it."

* * *

After everything was said and done Connor returned to the back deck of Hank's house to sit down and think about what Henry said. Change can be painful, but it can also be wonderful. Losing Skye was a horrible change that scarred his heart forever, but the birth of Henry was a wonderful change that allowed his heart to finally heal. Henry was also right in that he couldn't stay in one place forever. He'd have to experience the world in order to understand it, as would Connor.

"Dad?" Henry walked over to the back deck with his graduation gown draped casually over his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, son." Connor flashed him a bright grin. "I'm just... thinking."

"Me too. Think I could join you?"

"Of course. Where's your Papa?"

"He and Uncle Luke are inside talking. Something about getting more baseball tickets for some other game."

Connor just laughed a little and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm not surprised." As Henry sat beside him Connor gave his son a confident grin. "So, how does it feel to be a graduate?"

"Pretty strange, actually. I spent twelve years of my life studying just to get a fancy piece of paper and a party."

"Yeah, but that paper is going to open up so many doors of opportunity for you."

"Fortunately, I'm already dead-set on a career in forensic science. As long as the paper can open up that particular door for me, I'll be content."

"I just can't believe you'll be living in a dorm forty-three point five miles away from me in less than three months."

"Hey, I'm going to college not running away from home, dad."

"I know that, it's just... I still vividly remember the day you were born and holding you in my arms for the first time."

"Well, you're an android. You _should_ remember that."

Connor playfully shoved Henry's shoulder with his palm. "I also remember you screaming your head off when you were three years old because I wouldn't let you eat a rock you found in the backyard."

"Maybe that rock tasted real good," Henry sharply replied with a smirk. "did you even bother to taste it?"

"No, I threw it over the fence and made sure there were no other rocks in the backyard. Although I imagine tasting the rock would've been a preferable alternative to a toddler screaming at me for not letting him accidentally _choke_ on a rock."

"I think if you used the word 'intentionally' instead of 'accidentally' it would've been a lot worse."

"That's not all I remember about you." Connor smirked again as he stared at his son and compared how much Henry had changed since he was a newborn baby to the young adult he had become. "Like the infamous 'bubble-bath incident' when you were four."

"I swear I didn't dump the whole bottle in the tub on purpose!" Henry laughed while trying and failing to not look guilty or amused.

"I know you didn't. It was your Papa."

"Wait... How do you know that?"

"Because he was the one who _bought_ the bubble-bath, and he's the one who insisted that I let you play with it."

"...Really?" Henry was starting to laugh a little harder, but hid it behind his hand. "Are you sure?"

"Henry, he was laughing the whole time I was cleaning up the mess. I know he's the one who did it when my back was turned."

"Oh... Sorry. I guess."

"It didn't help that Simon and Josh decided to send more bubble-bath to the house when Markus told them the story."

"That was a fun summer though."

"For you, not for me." Connor just gave his son an amused grin and patted his shoulder. "But it was better than the summer you fell out of the tree."

"I remember that, too. I broke my arm and lost my tooth. I haven't tried climbing a tree since." Henry pulled up his shirt a little to reveal his abdomen and where there was a very faint line of a scar. "But I'll take a broken bone over an emergency appendectomy."

"Same." Connor was thoroughly enjoying the trip down memory lane and smiled warmly. "I remember every holiday and every trip to the cabin, but I think my favorite memory of you is when you called me 'daddy' for the first time."

"...On my first Christmas."

"That's right."

"I tripped over some boxes and you caught me with your hand." Henry stated confidently as he too managed to recall the memory. "You were laying on the floor on your side, caught me with one hand, and said 'Daddy's got you'."

"That's right. Did your Papa tell you that story, or your Uncle Luke?"

"Actually, I just remember that myself."

"...What?"

"I can't explain it, but that's my absolute earliest memory. The next earliest memory I have is playing wiffle ball with Papa right over there," pointing to the middle of the backyard with one finger Henry pointed out the exact spot. "and then I have a memory of you taking me to the precinct to celebrate Papa's retirement."

"Henry... You've retained a memory from being eleven and a half months old?"

"Yeah."

"That's incredible!"

"I guess so. I never really thought that much about it."

"That definitely explains why you were such an exemplary student and only needed to study once to get an A on your tests. You have a fantastic memory."

"I don't have your _eidetic_ memory, but yeah, it is pretty good."

"Henry, I know you've been hearing this all day long, but I need to say it again. I'm so very proud of you."

"...Thanks, dad."

"And as much as I'm dreading the day you leave for college, I'm also looking forward to seeing you continue to grow and become a better person. But if you ever need to come back home, for whatever reason, or need me to go to you, I'll be there."

"I know, dad. You're always there."

Wrapping his arm around Henry's shoulder Connor gave him a half hug and smiled. "Come on, we better go see how many tickets your Papa is trying to get out of Luke, and make sure they remembered to plan for your open house."

"Yeah, because _I'm_ not paying for it!"

* * *

The Friday of the open house came and the two backyards of Hank and Connor's properties were filled with guests gathered around tables and under massive rented tents. The day Henry was old enough to be left home alone was the day Connor and Hank put up a gate in the fence between their properties to allow easier access back and forth between the houses. The gate was left wide open and there were guests walking back and forth to speak with Henry and socialize with the massive group of people.

Connor was standing in front of the giant display of photographs of Henry as he grew up, and of course the photo of his son taken on the day of his graduation. Photos of Henry growing up, his experiences with holidays, playing basketball, fishing with Hank, hanging out at the cabin, the school plays, working on the car, dozens of discreetly snapped photos of Henry with Connor and Hank as they played games or just spoke.

Time was a cruel illusion.

Markus had helped with the display and even brought the massive wooden easel to put the photographs on for the display. Below the photos was a long table holding Henry's many awards from his time as a student and athlete, as well as a basketball and his old stuffed animal that Hank had given him as a baby. Above the basketball was a photo of Henry in his jersey with his name and nickname; "Henry 'Hank-the-Tank' Anderson" was printed over the photo. Next to it was Henry's acceptance letter to U of M as well as his scholarship details, and newly acquired diploma.

"The photos turned out great." The deviant leader had spotted Connor by the display and readily joined him. "Good thing you started having physical copies of these memories printed out years ago. That saved us a lot of time."

"...Yeah. Time is precious."

"You okay, Connor?" Markus stood beside his friend and could see that he was emotional about the entire the situation.

"Yeah. It's just a strange feeling to know he'll be living on his own in three months."

"I still can't believe it's been eighteen years since he was born."

"Neither can I."

"Then again, it's already been twenty years since North and I were bonded, so, I guess I shouldn't be THAT surprised about how time really does move so quickly against our will."

"Yeah. And fourteen years since Hank retired."

"How's Hank doing? I didn't get a chance to talk to him after the graduation ceremony, and I haven't see him here at the party, yet."

Connor gave Markus a somber glance that spoke volumes on its own. "...He could be better."

"Oh, no. Connor, is there anything I can do?"

"Just keep acting normal. Hank doesn't want Henry to know, and frankly, I'm glad."

"They're that close, huh?"

"Yeah. It's going to break Henry's heart, but Hank doesn't want Henry to know. He wants to stay as active and a part of Henry's life as much as possible, not seen as a frail, sickly man."

"I get that. Trust me." Markus lowered his voice and kept his body language casual as he stayed at Connor's side. "Can I ask what's wrong?"

"Liver cancer. He had been diagnosed four years ago, successfully undergone treatment and had been in remission for two years. But it's back and now stage two. Once Henry is moved into his dorm in three months Hank's going to undergo a more aggressive treatment. But it doesn't look good."

"And a man of his age and history can't qualify for transplant, right?"

"That's right. And CyberLife didn't patent an artificial liver since the organ is regenerative in humans."

"Shit, I'm sorry."

Connor decided a change of subject was sorely needed. "...Where's North and the others?"

"North still isn't a fan of human gatherings, but she did give me a card to give to Henry. She also included a letter to make it more personal. Josh and Simon will be here later after they pick up Natalie."

"Natalie. Who is Natalie?"

Markus started grinning sheepishly. "Natalie is their _daughter_."

"What?" Connor's eyes lit up with excitement on his friends' behalf. "They... adopted?"

"Yeah, they filed for adoption and FINALLY got approved. Natalie was born last week and they just needed to finish a few more pieces of paperwork, now they're free and clear to have their _daughter_ with them."

"That's incredible." The deviant was truly happy to hear the good news. "Why didn't they say anything sooner?"

"Because they weren't sure if they'd get approved, or when. It just so happens everything fell into place on this day."

"That's fantastic! I'm looking forward to meeting her."

Henry walked up to Connor with his best friend Jason at his side and asked about Hank. "Hey, I haven't seen Papa anywhere. Do you know where he is?"

"Luke said he wasn't feeling well last night. He'll be out soon, though."

"Should I do anything?"

"No, it's fine Henry. Enjoy your party, and I'll go check on him."

"Cool. Hey, Markus!" Henry acknowledged the deviant leader before he and Jason took off to rejoin the crowd.

"Hey." As Henry got out of hearing range Markus addressed Connor again. "Want me to go with you?"

"No, I can do this. Just keep this between us and remain as natural as possible."

"Yeah, you got it."

Connor made his way inside the house through the backdoor and saw Hank standing in the kitchen leaning heavily against his cane. Luke was standing beside him helping him sort through his medication while also keeping tabs on his condition. Offering Hank a glass of water Luke watched as the sick retired detective took his required medication and did so with an annoyed grimace.

"How're you holding up, dad?" Connor asked as he put his hand to Hank's shoulder. "You seem a little weak."

"I've been better, but I'm still here."

"Need anything?"

"I'll be okay. I just need a little more time to get around these mornings, but I'm still me."

"Are you in pain?"

"No." Fussing with the top buttons of his zebra striped shirt, the very one he swore he'd wear that day, and smoothed out the front. "Stop worrying about me and go celebrate with your son."

"I will once he gets to see you. He was asking where you were."

"What did you tell him?"

"That you weren't feeling well last night and that Luke was taking care of you."

"Well, you're not wrong." Downing the final few various pills with a gulp of water Hank shook his head and sighed. "It's ironic. Pills are supposed to rot your liver, but _these_ pills are going to help sustain it."

"Irony is rather prevalent in this family. You used to hate androids with a passion, now you're one of the biggest android advocates in the country."

"Yeah, and you used to be a cold, heartless machine, now you're one of the warmest most empathetic people I've ever met. And Luke," Hank turned and put his hand on the deviant's shoulder. Ever since Luke had removed his L.E.D. a few years ago he now looked as human as Connor. "you were once dead. Now you're here with us all over again."

"I don't think that's irony," Luke smirked as he put his hand on Hank's arm. "but I understand what you're saying."

Connor patted his hand on Hank's upper back and held open the backdoor. "C'mon, Henry's waiting for us."

The backyard was filled with positive energy and almost fifty people as Henry's friends and relatives filled the the area. Rose, Gavin, Abby, Aria, Chris and Tina all showed up to wish Henry the best of luck, give him cards and money, and to visit with the entire family. Josh and Simon arrived soon after with Natalie to introduce her to the group, give Henry a strong handshake as well as a card, then politely excused themselves to take Natalie to her new home to get settled in. Markus stayed the entire day and helped keep charge of things while Henry's friends, including Aria, stayed in the backyard all day and crashed outside around a small bonfire as the day gave way to night.

Connor was watching the group of newly graduated teens sleeping around the campfire in sleeping bags through the kitchen window and felt Luke walk up behind him.

"Henry is a great kid, little brother." Luke stated firmly as he tried to make his brother feel better about Henry leaving in a few months. "Don't worry about him, he'll be just fine."

"I can't do that, Luke. He's still my son. My little boy."

"This might be a weird question, but do you think you'll adopt a baby now that it's legal?"

"...No. Having another child wouldn't be a bad thing, but I think Henry's all I need. I have my family."

"I guess you're right. And who knows? Maybe _I'll_ be the one to adopt a kid, then you can be the Uncle."

"I'd like that." Turning to face his brother Connor smiled warmly. "Did you bring in all the cards?"

"Yeah. And I split up the extra food. Half is here for dad and the other half is at your house for Henry and his friends."

"Where is dad?"

"Right here." Using his cane Hank made his way into the kitchen and joined his two sons. Despite his failing health Hank never once complained about it, or showed any sign of slowing down once he was on his feet. "Sorry, I had to take a shower. I held Natalie for a few minutes and she spit up on my shirt about nine hours ago."

"Maybe Henry's right, that shirt must be ugly."

"Ha, ha." Hank never got tired of Connor's sarcasm. "Since Natalie's a cute kid, she gets a pass. But you are all out of free passes."

Connor appreciatively grinned at the comment and kept the mood upbeat. "I saw Rose for a while and got to speak to her for a few minutes. She told me that Adam's wife is having their third baby this fall."

"Yeah, his wife and daughters are gorgeous. I think this time it's going to be a little boy."

"Will you be stopping by to visit again once the baby is born?"

"Yup. Any excuse I have to see Rose or those kids in a good one. And Rose already told me she understands if you can't make it because you might have something going on with Henry."

"I will do my best to attend, otherwise I will send a gift."

"Speaking of gifts..." Hank motioned to the pile of cards on the kitchen table. "Looks like Henry got a good haul!"

"Yes, but there is one envelope that I'm curious about."

"Which one is that?"

Connor sifted through the pile and picked up a far more elegantly designed envelope and held up for Hank to see. "It's from Kamski."

"Kamski? I haven't seen that smug bastard in almost twenty years. What does he want?"

"I don't know." Connor held the card up in front of the light shining down the ceiling, but he couldn't see though the paper to the contents within. "That's why I'm curious."

"Didn't he make some vow to ensure no one tried to mess with you or Henry?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Think it's a _bill_?" Hank asked with a coy smirk on his face.

"If it is, I'm NOT paying it." Putting the envelope back in the pile Connor sighed and resumed looking out the window at the group of young graduates sleeping around the warm bonfire in sleeping bags outside. "Whatever it is, it's Henry's business. He can handle it."

Hank knew that Connor was feeling riled up and protective and decided to put an end to it. "So, tomorrow's Aria's open house, right?"

"That's right. Eleven in the morning until seven."

"Should we bring anything?"

"Just Aria." Connor pointed to her as she slept amongst her friends. "I think Henry's going to be driving his friends over tomorrow, so I don't think it'll be a problem for us."

"Good. Come on, boys. There's a game on television and it's been too damn long since we had the chance to watch one as a family."

"Sounds good to me." Luke followed after Hank while Connor slowly took his eyes from the window.

"...Yeah. I'm right behind ya', dad."

* * *

_**3 Months Later:** _

Connor and Henry had finished putting the final bolts in the loft and had placed the mattress up onto the loft to finally finish getting Henry's dorm room all set up. The loft gave him and his roommate more space, and allowed him to tuck his desk under the loft with his laptop so he could work. A small dark blue couch was against the wall under the window overlooking the campus grounds, and a small table with a television was set up before the couch. Henry's roommate had already dropped off his stuff and finished taking care of his side of the room giving Connor and Henry more room to work.

"Did you bring your guitar?" Connor asked as he placed the sheets on the mattress for Henry.

"No, I won't have time to play. Maybe I'll pack it up after I visit home in a couple weeks."

"It's a shame your keyboard would be too big to have in here. Music is very relaxing and it aids concentration."

"Good thing I can play music on my laptop, then."

"Too bad you can't bring Opal, too. A lap-cat would make studying more enjoyable."

"I'm pretty sure a cat would get noticed fast. She wouldn't be paying tuition."

"Need anything else, son?" Connor helped Henry unpack the last of the boxes and place his clothes in the closet in the wall. "You have all your textbooks, right?"

"Yeah, dad. I have everything I need."

"What about groceries?"

"I have some money saved up so I can keep food in the dorm. Mini-fridges aren't the best, but it's better than a cooler in the corner."

"Is the saved money from your open house?"

"That, and that one card from that Kamski guy gave me had a check for five thousand dollars. He said he 'owed' you for something and knew you wouldn't take his money yourself, so he made the check out to me on the condition that I use to pay off my education."

"Oh."

"It's okay, dad. I know that guy was kind of a creep and all that stuff, and I know you don't owe him anything. Any weird debt he thinks he has toward you is just him trying to cover up something he screwed up in the past."

"I'm proud to here you say that, Henry. You're too smart to be fooled by a snake like that."

"Yeah. Not going to lie, the money was nice, though. Now I don't have to worry about paying for my tuition for a while."

"...Want some extra money just in case?"

"No, dad. I'm fine."

"Take it anyway." Connor reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet and handed another three hundred dollars to Henry. "Keep it as emergency money at least. Same with the debit card."

Henry just laughed as he accepted the money graciously and placed it in the top right drawer of his desk and locked it. "I also have the extra phone charger you gave me, AND the medical insurance card."

Smiling at Henry's maturity Connor realized how far away his son was going to be from home. "It's a shame you can't keep the Camaro while you're studying."

"It'd just draw unwanted attention. There's a frat house two blocks away, and I don't feel like washing off dried up puke from the hood of my car every weekend."

"Good point."

"AND I don't want to pay for parking when I won't be driving that much anyway."

"Smart budgeting."

"...Is Papa still in the car?"

"Yeah. He won't leave without saying goodbye, don't worry."

Henry looked worried anyway, and his eyes were getting glassy.

"Henry, what's wrong?"

"Dad... I know Papa's sick."

"...O-Oh."

"I'm not a child, I can handle the truth."

"We know you can, Henry, it's just he didn't want you to know so you wouldn't worry about him and focus on your education. And he didn't want you to see him as a sick man instead of your Papa."

"That's crazy! I'll never see him as anyone else, no matter _how_ sick he gets."

Now it was Connor's eyes that were welling up with tears. "...I think he'd like to know that."

"Then, that's what I'll tell him."

"Okay." Wrapping his arm around Henry's shoulder Connor escorted his son out of the dorm room and back outside to the campus grounds. "Let's go talk to him."

* * *

Resting his back as much as he could and enjoying the nice day Hank was standing outside the campus with his back leaning up against the side of the Corvette, and his cane clutched in his right hand. Observing all the families that were helping their kids move into the campus, and all the bright-eyed students who were roaming the grounds and becoming acclimated to their new environment made him smirk. As the students scattered about aimlessly Hank caught sight of Connor and Henry coming back his way.

"Hey, you two. Finished already?"

"Yeah, his dorm is set." Connor confirmed as Henry slowly approached Hank and gave him a sad look.

The look immediately caught Hank's attention. "What's wrong, Henry? Homesick already?"

"...Papa." Standing before him Henry gave Hank a tight hug and held him tightly. "Don't worry about me. Please, worry about yourself. Get better!"

Hank quickly reciprocated the hug, his left hand patting Henry's back as he could feel Henry trying to not cry as he hugged him. Looking over Henry's shoulder to Connor the deviant silently mouthed: 'He knew you were sick. I didn't say anything.' In an instant Hank tightened his hug and tried to reassure his upset grandson.

"Ah, Henry. Don't do that, I'll be fine. I've been taking care of this problem for months, and I'll begin a more aggressive treatment starting tomorrow. I'm not going down without a fight."

"I wish you would've told me what was going on."

"Hey, come on. You knowing would've only made you worry, and it wouldn't have done anything to make me any better."

"No, but I want to know if there's anything wrong with you or dad! We're family."

Family.

The one word that always had a tendency to force the guard around Hank's heart down into nothingness.

"And we always will be." As Henry slowly released his hug Hank once again found himself wiping away his grandson's tears with his hand before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small gift to Henry. "Hey, come on. Don't worry about me, alright? And to make sure you aren't worrying and you're studying like you should be I'm going to call you every Friday night at seven, got it?"

"...Yeah, Papa. I got it."

"And to make sure you don't forget you'll keep this somewhere safe at all times." Placing the item down in Henry's palm Hank gave him a playfully stern glance. "This is the first gift I ever gave you on Christmas. You were too little keep hold of it yourself, so your dad kept it safe for you."

Henry looked at the gift and saw that it was the gilded pocketwatch with his name engraved on it. Opening the watch Henry smiled as he saw a picture of himself and Hank sitting together at the lake at the cabin back when Henry was seven years old. Connor had taken the picture when Henry sat beside Hank to ask about Cole, and the two finished watching the sunset together over the lake. "I remember that day..."

"And you _keep_ remembering that day. It was a VERY good day."

"Just one of many."

"Henry," Hank slipped aside the photo and showed the inscription on the inside of the pocketwatch. "read the inscription."

Obediently Henry read the words and his voice became choked up in the process. "' _Time is fleeting, but memories last forever. Love Papa_ '."

"And I mean it."

"I know you do."

"Come on, Henry." Hank was trying to keep Henry calm as he reassured him that everything would be okay, even after he was long gone. "Why don't we go find something for lunch? My treat."

"Yeah." Replacing the photo he closed the watch and hung it around his neck by the long chain. "I'd like that."

Connor was relieved to see that Hank managed to ease Henry's worry to some degree, and rejoined his family at the car. "Pick the place, Henry. Anywhere in the city."

"No, Papa should pick."

"Alright, but since I'm picking the place AND since I'm paying, no complaining!"

"When have I ever complained?" Henry joked as he sat in the backseat of the Corvette so Hank could have the front seat.

"Yeah, good point. Learn to complain more, damn it!"

Henry couldn't help but laugh at the strange joke as Connor pulled the car away from the street. "Alright, I'll give my roommate a fair warning."

"Why? That's not any fun."

* * *

As hard as it was Henry had no choice but to say goodbye to both his dad and grandfather after returning to the campus well into the evening and going back to his dorm room. A part of Henry was so worried that it'd be the last time he'd ever see Hank and he wasn't ready to say his goodbyes. As the dread of time and immortality hung heavily over his head he turned to give his family a wary glance as he stood in the middle of his dorm room.

"Maybe I can stop by the house next weekend, you know?" Henry suggested warmly. "We can play some basketball or something."

"Of course." Connor sensed Henry's wariness and wanted to comfort him. "You're always welcome home whenever you want to come back. No matter why, when, or for how long."

Hank took a step forward without using his cane and gave Henry another hug. "Hey, you study and you win your games. Or I'll come back here and kick your butt!"

"I'd like to see you try with that ugly cane in your hand!"

Laughing Hank patted Henry's back again and rubbed his hand over the back of Henry's hair. "I'll call you this Friday at seven, you better answer your phone. Got it?"

"...Got it."

Connor stepped in to hug Henry and held tightly onto his son and had to fight the urge to never let go. "Everything will be okay, Henry. When you stop by to visit we'll head out to the cabin and have another family weekend, alright?"

"Yeah. Sounds great!"

Slowly, reluctantly and with a heavy heart Connor broke the hug and gave Henry a hesitant glance. "Remember, if you need anything for any reason, call."

"I will."

"When will your roommate be back?"

"Soon. The campus will go on lockdown in an hour, so he kinda' has to be back soon or else he'll be stuck sleeping outside."

"Of course. Will you be okay alone until then?"

"Yeah. It'll be weird, but I can handle it."

"We know that. You can handle anything."

A campus security officer who was patrolling the dorms and informing visiting family and friends of the curfew, and begrudgingly informed Connor and Hank that they'd have to leave soon. It was the worst part of his job, but it was painfully necessary. "Lockdown in forty-five minutes. Sorry, only students are permitted to stay overnight."

"We'll see you soon, Henry." Connor stated confidently as he accepted the fact that he'd have to leave soon. "I love you."

"I love you too, dad." Henry looked over to Hank and smiled. "I love you, Papa."

"I love ya', Henry." Hank reached out his hand and shook Henry's hand. "Remember what I said."

"About kicking my butt?"

"Smartass. _Friday_ at _seven_."

"I'll be waiting with my phone in my hand. I promise!"

* * *

It was a long, slow walk away from the dorm and out to the campus.

Feeling like he was forgetting something very important, his son, Connor walked out of the dorm with Hank right at his side. Walking slowly to accommodate Hank's health as they made their way back to the Corvette in the parking lot, Connor glanced back at the building as if he could somehow see Henry still, but of course, Henry's window overlooked the campus and not the parking lot. There were no other cars around which made the entire campus feel eerily empty and the moment all the more sad.

"Hey, are you going to be okay, Connor?"

"...Yeah." Opening up the passenger side door of the car for Hank first to ensure the sick man could move about easier, Connor walked around to the other side and opened his own door. "The house is just going to feel so empty without having Henry around. Opal is great company, but is no substitute for my son."

"And that is called the much dreaded 'empty-nest syndrome'. It's the bane of all parents, but it gets easier over time." Hank sat down slowly in the passenger seat and put his cane in the backseat behind him. "Just for the hell of it, want to stay over at my house tonight?"

"...Yeah. I think I do." As Connor sat down in his own seat and wiped away more tears from his eyes as he let his 'aged' aesthetic fade away. As he looked like his usual self Connor suddenly looked more like a sad kid than a proud father. "It's strange because I just said goodbye, and yet I already miss him."

"Son, come here." Hank wrapped his arm around Connor and pulled the deviant up against him for a much needed hug. Connor didn't resist and let Hank hug him as tight as possible. "You did great with Henry. He's one hell of a great kid, he's intelligent, kind, funny, empathetic and he's going to help shape this mess of a world into something recognizable. _Be proud_ , not sad."

"...I've always have been proud of him, dad. And I always will be."

"The feeling's mutual, kid." Smiled with utter pride he hugged his son. "It really is."

"Thanks, dad."

"Let's go home, son. It's going to be a long night."

_**-The End  
** _


End file.
